Discourses concerning government

fl*

3Cibrarp,

N TME CUSTODY Or TME

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.

r SHELF N°

AUAMS

■'■WCl^>:' ' ..i.^^,^-

4

y /

'////? ^^^^a-^^j

DISCOURSES

CONCERNING

GOVERNMENT;

/

B Y

ALGERNON SIDNEY,

Son to Robert Earl of Leicester,

AND

AmbalTador from the Commonwealth of Engl ant.
to Charles Gustavus King of Sweden.

Publiflied from an Original Manufcript of the Author.

To which is added,

A Short Account of the AUTHOR'S Life.

And a Copious Index.

VOL. II.

EDINBURGH:

Printed for G. Hamilton and J. Balfour.

M.DCC.L,

ji.

VuAM^lfiJI

The CONTENTS of VOL. II.

CHAP. III.

SECT. I. Kings not being fathers of their
peopky nor excelling all others in virtue^ can
have no other juji power than what the laws give^
nor any title to the privileges of the Lord's anointed^

Page I.
S^eft. 2. The kings of Ifrael and Judah were under a
law notfafely to be tranfgrejjed^ p, 23.

Sedl. 3. Samuel did not defer ibe to the Ifraelites the
glory of a free monarchy^ but the evils the people
Jflmild fiiffer^ that he might divert them from de^
firing a king^ P- '^7*

Seft. 4. No people can be obliged to fuffer from their
kings what they have not a right to do, p. 31.

Sedt. 5. The mif chiefs fuff'erdfrom wicked kings are
fuch as render it both reafonable and jiijl for all
nations that have virtue and power ^ to exert both
in repelling them^ p. 38*

Sedl. 6. ^Tis not good for fuch nations as will have
kings ^ to fuffer them to be glorious, powerful or
abounding in riches, /'• 45*

Seft. 7. When the Ifraelites afkedfor fuch a king as
the nations about them had, they afkedfor a tyrant
thd they did not call him foy p, 52.

Se£l. 8. Xjnder the name of tribute no more is under ^
flood, than what the law of each nation gives to
the fupreme magi jlr ate for the defraying of public
charges 5 to which the cufloms of the Romans, or
fuffer ings of the Jews have no relation, p. 61.
Sedt. 9. Our own laws confirm to us the enjoyment of
our native rights^ P* 7^*

Seft. 10. The words of St. Paul enjoining obedience
to higher powers, favour all forts of governments
r^okfs than monarchy^ p. 7^*

Se<5t,

IV CONTENTS.

Se£l. II. That which is not ju ft is not law^ and that
nvhich is not laiv ought ?ict to be obeyed^ p. ^-j.

Sedl. 12. The right and power of a magiftrate
depends upon his injlitiition^ not upon his name^

p. 97.

Sedt. I'},, Laws were made to direct and tnflrudl
magiftrates^ and if they will not be direBed^ to
reft rain them^ p, 102,

Seft. 14. Laws are not made by kings y not becaufe
they are bufed in greater matters than doing juftice^
but becaufe natio?is will be governed by rule^ and not
arbitrarily y p, wo,

Seit. 15. A general prefumption that kings .will
govern well^ is not a fuficient fecurity to the people y

p, 119.

Seft. 16. The obfervatlon of the laws of nature i^
abfurdly expe&ed from tyrants^ who fet themfelves
tip againjl all laws : and he that fubjeBs kings to
no other law than what is common to tyrants^ deflroys
their beings p, 125.

Sedl. 17. King^ cannotbe the interpreters ff the oaths
they take ^ p* 124'

Sect. 18. The next in blood to deceafed ktJtgSy cannot
generally be faid to be kings till they are crowned^

p. 149.

Se<5l. 19. The great eft enemy of a juft magiftrate is
he who endeavours to invalidate the contrail between
him and the people y or to corrupt their manner Sy

p, 170.

Sect. 20. Vnjuft commajids are not to be obefd-y and
no man is ohligedtofufer for not obeying fuch as fire
againft laWy p* 176.

Seft. 21. It cannot be for the good of the people y that
the magiftrate have a power above the law : and
he is not a magiftrate who has not his power by
laWy p. 182.

Sed:. 22. The rigour of the law is to be tempered by

men

CONTENTS. i^

'mefi of kmwn integrity and judgment^ and not by
the prince^ "who may be ignorant or '-jiciom^ p, 193.

Se(^. 23. Anik.oX\Q proves^ that no man is to be in^
triijled with an abfolute power ^ by JJoewing that no
one hio'Wi> hoiv to execute it^ but Jiich a man as. is
not to be found y p» 201,

Sedt. 24. T'hepowerofAM^wikxisCxizrivasnotgiveny
but ufurpedy p, 205^

Sedt. 25. 'The regal power "was not the firji in this
nation^ nor neceffariiy to be continued^ tho* it had
been the firft^ p, 207.

Sedl. 26. Iho* the king may be entrujied with the
power of choofng judges-^ yet that by which they adi
is from the law^ p. 221.

Se6t. 27. Magna Charta was not the original^ but a
declaration of the Englifo liberties. The king's
power is not reftrained^ but created by that and
ether laws ; and the nation that made them^ can
oJily correal the defeats cf them^ p. 234.

Seel:. 28. The EngliJJj nation has always been governed
by i if If or itsreprefentatives^ p, 239.

Sedt. 29. Theking was never majier of the foilyp, 262.

Sedl. 30. Henry the fir ft was king of Efigland by as
good a title as any of his predecejfors or fucceffors.

p. 268.

Sedl. 31. Free 7iations have a right of meetings when
and where they pleafe^ unlefs they deprive themfelves

?/*^*^. ^ p. 275.

Sedt. 32. The powers of kings are fo various ^ ac-
cording to the conftitutions of feveral fates ^ that
no confequence can be draivn to the prejudice or
adva?2tage of a?iy one^ merely from the name ^ p, 284.

Sedt. 3 3 . The liberty of a people is the gift of God and
nature y p, 288.

Sedl. 34. No veneration paid^ or honour confer d upon
ajiift and lawful magi ft r at e^ can diminifj the liberty
of a nation^ p, 293.

Sedt.

VI CONTENTS.

6eft. 25' ^^^ authority given by our law to the a^s
performed by a king de faElo^ defra5l nothiiig
from the peoples right of creating whom they pleafe,

P' 297-
Se6i:. 36. 7he general revolt of a nation cannot be

called a rebellion, /• 300-

Sedl. 37. 7 he Englijld government was not ill confti-

tilted, the defeats more lately obferved proceeding

from the change of manners and corruption of the

times, p, 309.

Seft. 3 8. 'The power of calling and dijjhlving parlia^
ments is not Jimp !y in the king. The variety of
cuftoms in choofmg parliament-men, and the errors a
people may commit, neither prove that kings are or
ought to be ab joint e, p. 314,

Seel:. 39. Thofe kings only are heads of the people,
who are good, wife, andfeek to advance 7io interejl
but that of the public, p, 324.

Sefl:. 40. Good laws prefcribe eafy and fafe remedies
againft the evils proceeding from the vices or in fir ^
niities of the magijlrate 5 and when they fail they
tnuji be fupplied, p. 335.

Se£l. 41. The people for whom and by whom the
magiflrate is created, can only judge whether he
rightly perforin his office, or not ^ p, 342.

Sedt. 42. The perfon that wears the crown cannot
determine the affairs which the law rejers to the

king, ^ P' ZSV

Sed:. 43. Proclamations are not laws, p. 359,

SecS. 44. No people that is not free^ can fubjittute

delegates, />. 368.

Sedl. 45. The legiflative power is always arbitrary^

and not to be trufled in the hands of any, who are

not hound to obey the laws they make, p, 376,

Se6t. 46. The coercive power of the law proceeds from

the authority of parliament^ ^* 3 ^ ^ •

( 1 )

DISCOURSES

CONCERNING

GOVERNMENT.

wakmt^ttmmmm

CHAR III.

SECTION I.

Kings not being fathers of their people^ nor e:)CceUing
all others i?i virtue^ call have no oth^.r jujl ptwer
than what the laws give ^ nor any title to the pri-
vileges of the Lord's anointed.

HAVING proved that the right of fathers is
from nature, and incommunicable, it muft
follow, ' that every man doth perpetually
owe all love, refpedt, fervice, and obedience to him
that did beget, nouriili, and educate him, and to
no other under that name. No man therefore can
claim the right of a father over any, except one that
is fo ', no man can ferve two mafters 3 the extent and
perpetuity of the duty which every man owes to his
father, renders it impoffible for him to ov/e the fame
to any other : this right of father cannot be devolved
to the heir of the father, otherwife than as every
fon by the law of nature is heir to his father, and
has the fame right of commanding his children, as
Vol. 1L B his

2 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

his father had of commanding him when he was a
child : no man can owe to his brother that which
he owed to his father, becaufe he cannot receive
that from him which he had from his father ; but
the utnioft of all abfurdities that can enter into the
heart of man is, for one to exacl the rights due to
a father, who has no other title than force and
ufurpation, it being no lefs than to fay, that I owe
as much to one who has done me the greateft of all
injuries, as to him who has conferred upon me the
greateft benefits : or, which is yet worfe, if poffible,
that as thefe ufurpations cannot be made but by
robbing, fpoiling, imprifoning, or killing the perfon
in pofTeffion ; that duty, which by the eternal law
of nature I owe to my father, ihould oblige me to
pay the fame veneration, obedience, and fervice to
the man that has fpoiled, imprifoned, or killed my
father, as I owed to him 3 or that the fame law^
which obliged me to obey and defend my father^,
because he was fo, fliould oblige me to obey and
defend his enemy, becaufe he has imprifon'd or
kiird him ; and not only to pafs over the law of
God, v/hich makes m_e the avenger of my father's
blood, but to reward his murderer with the rights
that comprehend all that is moft tender and facred in
nature, and to look upon one that has done me the
greateft of all injuftices and injuries, as upon him to
whom I owe my birth and education. This being.
evident to all thofe who have any meafure of com-
mon fcnfCi I fuppofe it may be fafely concluded,,
that v/hat right foever a father may have over his
family, it cannot relate to . that which a king has
over his people ; unlefs he, like the m^an in the
ifland of Pines, mention d before, be alfo the father
of them .all. That which is abfolutely unlike in
manner and fubftancC;, inftitution and exereife, muft

be

Sea. I. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 3

be unlike in all relpecls 3 and the conclufions,
which have their ftrength from fin-jilitQde and pa-
rity, can have none vv^hen there is not the leafl fimi-
litude of either. And tho' it were true, that fathers
are held by no contrads (which generally 'tis not;
for when the fon is of age, and does fomething for
the father to which he is not obliged, or gives him
that which he is not bound to give, fappofe an inlie-
ritance received from a friend, goods of his own ac-
quifition, or that he be emancipated, all good laws
look upon thofe things as a valuable confideration,
and give the fame force to contrads thereupon made,
as to thofe that pafs between ftrangers) it could have
no relation to our queftion concerning kings. One
principal reafon that renders it very little necefTary by
the laws of nations, to reftrain the power of parents
over their children is. becaufe 'tis prelum cd they
cannot abufe it : they are thought to have a law in.
their bowels, obliging them more flridly to feek
their good, than all thofe that can be laid upon them
by another pov/er ; and yet if they depart from it,
fo as inhumanly to abufe or kill their children, they
are punifhed with as much rigour, and accounted
more unpardonable than other men. Ignorance or
wilful malice perfuading our author to pafs over all
this, he boldly affirms, " That the father of a fa-
*' mily governs it by no other law than his ov/n
" will ;" and from thence infers, that the condition
of kings is the fame. He would feem to foften the
harlbnefs of this propolition by faying, " That a
king is always tied by the fame law of nature to
keep this general ground, that the fafety of the
kingdom is his chief law." But he fpoils it in
the next page, by aflerting, '' That it is not right
for kings to do injury, but it is right that they go
uripuniil:ied by the people if they do 3 fo that in

B 2 this

(C

cc
cc

4 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

this point it is all one, whether Samuel defcribe a
king or a tyrant, for patient obedience is due unto
both ', no remedy in the text againft tyrants, but
crying and praying unto God in tliat day." In
this our author, according to the cufiom of theatres,
runs round in a circle^ pretends to grant that which
IS true, and then by a lie endeavours to deftroy all
again. Kings by the law of nature are obliged to
feek chiefly the good of the kingdom -, but there is
no remedy if they do it not ^ which is no lefs than
to put all upon the confcience of thofe who manifeft-
ly have none. But if God has appointed that all
other tranfgreffions of the laws of nature, by which
a private man receives damage, fhould be puniflied
in this world, notwithftanding the right referved to
himfelf of a future punifhment j I defire to know,
why this alone, by which whole nations may be,
and often are deftroy'd, fhould efcape the hands of
juftice ? If he prefume no law to be neceflary in
this cafe, becaufe it cannot be thought that kings
will trangrefs, as there was no law in Sparta againft
adultery, becaufe it was not thought poffible for
men educated under that difcipline to be guilty of
fuch a crime ; and as divers nations left a liberty to
fathers to difpofe of their children as they thought
fit, becaufe it could not be imagined that any one
would abufe that power, he ought to remember that
the Spartans were miftakeri, and for want of that
law which they efteemed ufelefs, adulteries became
as common there as in any part of the world : and
the other error being almoft every where difcovered,
the laws of all civilized nations make it capital for a
man to kill his children -, and give redrefs to chil-
dren if they fuffer any other extreme injuries from
their parents, as well as other perfons. Eut tho' this
were not fo, i: would be nothing to our queftion, un-

lefs

Sea. I. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. '5

lefs it could be fuppofed, that whoever gets the power
of a nation into his hands, mud be immediately
filled with the fame tendernefs of afFedion to the
people imdor him, as a father naturally has tovv^ards
the children he hath begotten. He that is of this
opinion may examine the lives of Herod, Tiberius,
Caligula, and fome later princes of like inclinations,
and conclude it to be true, if he find that the whole
courfe of their actions, in relation to the people un-
der them, do well fuit with the tender and facred
name of father ; and altogether falfe, if he find the
contrary. But as every man that confiders what has
been, or fees what is every day done in the world,
muft confefs, that princes, or thofe who govern
them, do moft frequently fo utterly rejed: all
thoughts of tendernefs and pity towards the nations
under them, as rather to feek what can be drawn
from them, than what fhould be done for them,
and fometimes become their moft bitter and public
enemies : 'tis ridiculous to make the fafety of nations
to depend upon a fuppofition, which by daily ex-
perience we find to be falfe ; and impious, to prefer
the lufts of a man who violates the moft facred laws
of nature, by deftroying thofe he is obliged to pre-
ferve, before the welfare of that people for whofe
good he is made to be what he is, if there be any
thing of juftice in the power he exercifes.

Our author ibolifhly thinks to cover the enormity
of this nonfenfe, by turning Salutem populi into
Salutem regni : for tho' Regnum may be taken for
the power of commanding, in which fenfe the pre-
fer vation of it is the ufual objedt of the care of
princes -, yet it does more rightly fignify the body of
that nation which is governed by a king. And
therefore if the maxim be true, as he acknowledges
it to be, then Salus populi eft lex fuprema ; and the

B 3 firft

6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

firil thing we are to inquire is^ whether the govern-
ment of this or that man do conduce to the accom^
phihment of that fupreme law, or not ; for other-
wife it ought to have been faid, Salus regis eft lex
fuprema, which certainly never entred into the head
of a wifer or better man than Filmer,

His reafoDS are as good as his doctrine : " Nq
*' law, fays he, can be impofed on kings, becaufe
*' there were kings before any laws were made."
This would not follow, tho' the propoiidon were
true ; for they, who impofed no laws upon the kings
they at iirft made, from an opinion of their virtue,
as in thofe called by the antients Hercum regna,
might lay reftricTtions upon them, when they were
found not to anfwer the expeftation conceived of
them, or that their fucceifors degenerated frorn
their virtue. Other nations alfo being inftruded by
the ill eiTeds of an unlimited power given to fome
kings (if there was any fuch) might wifely avoid
the rock upon which their neighbours had fplit, and
juftly moderate that power which had been perni-
cious to others. However a propolition of fo great
importance ought to be proved -, but that being hard,
and perhaps impoffible, becaufe the original of nations
is almoft wholly unknown to us, and their pracfrice
feems to have been fo various, that wliat is true in
one, is not fo in another ; he is pleafed only to affirm
it, without giving the leaft ihadow of a reafon to per-
fuadc us to believe him. This mightjuftify me, if I
fhould rejeci; hisaiTertion.as a thing faid gratis : but I
may faiely go a ftep farther, and affirm, that men
live Ui. J . r laws before there were any kings ; which
cann-""- ^-r denied, if fuch a power neceffarily belongs
to kuv^^ "dS he afcribes to d^cm. For Nimrod, who
eftabli: ed his kingdom in Babel is the iirft who
by the fcripture is laid to have been a mighty one in

the

Sea. iT CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 7

the earth. He was therefore the firft king, or kings
were not mighty ; and he being the firft king, man-
kind muft have hved till his time without laws, or
elfe laws were made before kings. To fay that there
was then no law, is in many refpedls moft abfurd ;
for the nature of man cannot be without it, and the
violences committed by ill tnen before the flood, could
not have been blamed if there had been no law j
for that which is not cannot be tranlgreffed. Cain
could not have feared that every man who met him
would flay him, if there had not been a law to flay
him that had flain another. But in this cafe the
fcripture is clear, at leaft from the time that Noah
went out of the ark ; for God then gave him a law
fufficient for the ftate of things at that time, if all
violence was prohibited under the name of fhedding
blood, tho' not under the fam.e penalty as murder.
But penal laws being in vain, if there be none to ex-
ecute them, fuch as know God does nothing in vain,
may conclude that he who gave this law, did appoint
ibme way for its execution, tho' unknown to us.
There is therefore a law not given by kings, bat
laid upon fach as fliould be kings, as well as on
any other perfons, by one who is above them ; and
perhaps I may fay, that this law prefl^eth moil
upon them, becaufe they who have moft power,
do moft frequently break out into adts of violence,
and moft of all difdain to have their will reftrained :
and he that will exempt kings from this law, muft
either find that they are exempted in the text, or
that God who gave it has not a power over them.

Moreover, it has been proved at the beginning of
this treatife, that the firft lungs were of the accurf-
ed race, and reigned over the accurfed nations, whilft
the holy feed had none. If therefore there was no
law where there was no king, the accurfed pofterity

B 4 of

g DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

of Ham had laws, when the bleffed defcendants of
Shem had none, which is moft abfurd ; the word
Outlaw, or Lawlefs, being often given to the wick-
ed, but never to the juft and righteous.

The impious folly of fuch aiiertions goes farther
than our author perhaps fufpeded : for if there be
no law v/here there is no king, the Ifraelites had
no law till Saul was made kine, and then the law
they had was from him. They had no king before,
for they afked one. They could not have afked one
of Samuel, if lie had been a king. He had not been
offended, and God had not im.puted to them the iin
of rejecting him, if they had afked that only which
he had let over them. If Samuel were not king,
Mofes, Jofhua, and other judges, were not kings ^
for they were no more than he. They had there-
fore no king, and confequently, if our author fay
true, no law. If they had no law till Saul was
king, tliey never had any ; for he gave them none ;
and the prophets were to blame for denouncing
judgments againft them for receding from, or break-
ing their law, if they had none. He cannot fay
that Samuel gave them a law -, for that which he
wTote in a book, and laid up before the Lord *,
was not a law to the people, but to ihe king. If it
had been a law to the people, it muft have been
made public ; but as it was only to the king, he
laid it up before God, to teftify aeainft him if he
fliould adventure to break it. Or if it was a law
to the people, the matter is not mended ; for it was
given in the time of a king by one who was not
king. But in truih it was the law of the kingdom
by which he was king, and had been wholly im-r
pertinent, if it was not to biivd him 3 for it was
given to no other perfon, and to no other end.

* I Sam. X.

Our

Seel. I, CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 9

Our author's aflertion upon which all his doflirine
is grounded, " That there is no nation that allows
*' children any adtion or remedy for being unjuftly
'^ governed," is as impudently falfe as any other pro-
poled by him : for tho' a child will not be heard that
complains of the rod ; yet our own law gives relief
to children againft their fathers, as well as againft
other perfons that do them injuries, upon which we
fee many ill elfeds, and I do rather relate than
commend the practice. In other places the law
gives relief againft the extravagancies of which fa-
thers may be guilty in relation to their children, tho'
not to that excefs as to bring them fo near to an*
equality as in England ; they cannot imprifon, fell,
or kill their children, without expofing them.felves
to the fame puniihments with other men ; and if
they take their eftates from them, the law is open,
and gives relief againft them : but on the other iide,
children are puniihed with death, if they ftrike or
putragioufiy abufe their parents -, which is not fo
with us.

Now, if the laws of nations take fuch care to
preferve private men from being too hardly ufed by
their true and natural fathers, v/ho have fuch a love
and tendernefs for them in their own blood, that
the moft v/icked and barbarous do much more fre-
quently commit crimes for tliem than againft them ;
hov/ much more ntcelTary i it to reftrain the fuiy
that kings, who at the beft are but phantaftical fa-
thers, may exercife to the ricftrudion of the v/hole
people ? 'Tis a folly to fay that David and fome
other kings hgve had, or that all ihould have a ten-
dernefs of affe(!^ion towards their people as tov/ards
their children ; for befides that even the firft propo-
fition is not acknowledged, and v/ill be hardly veri-
fied in any one inftance, there is a vaft diftance be-
tween

lo DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

tween what men ought to be, and what they are.
Every man ought to be juft, true, and charitable ;
and if they were (o, laws would be of no ufe : but
it were a madnefs to abolifli them upon a fuppolition
that they are fo ; or to leave them to a future pu-
nifhment, which many do not believe, or not re-
gard. I am not obliged to believe that David loved
every Ifraeiite as v/eli as his fon Abfalom ; but tho'
he had, I could not from thence infer that all kings
do fo, unlefs I were fure tb4at all of them were as
' wife and virtuous as he.

But to come m.ore clofe to the matter : do we not
know of many kings who have come to their power
' by the mof!: wicked means that can enter into the
heart of man, even by the moft outragious injuries
done to the people, fometimes by a foreign aid ? as
kings were by the power of the Romans impofed
upon the Britons, that they might wafte the forces,
and break the fpirits of that fierce people. This
Tacitus * acknowledges, and fays, ^' That amongft
other inftruments of enflaving nations, they im-
pofed kings upon them." The Medices were
made mafters of Florence by the force of Charles
the fifth's army. Sometimes by a corrupt party in
their own country they have deftroy'd the beft men,
and fubdued the reft; as Agathocles, Dionyfius,
and Caefar did at Rom.e and Syracufe. Others taking
upon them to defend a people^ have turned the arms
with which they were entrufted againft their own
mafters ; as Francefco Sforza, who being chofen by
thofe of Milan to be their general againft the Vene-
tians, made peace with them, and by their aflift-
ance made himfelf prince, or, in our author's phrale,
father of that great city. If thefe be afts of ten-
dernefs, love, juftice, and charity, thofe who com-

(.1

* Inter iriilrumenta fervitutis reges habuere. Tacit.,

mit

/

Sea. r. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. u

mit them may well tliink they have gained the af-
fedions of their people, and grow to love thofe
from whom they rear nothing, and by whom they
think they are loved. But if on tiie other hand
they know they have attained to their greatnefs by
the vvorft of all villanies, and that they are on that
account become the object of the pubHc hatred,
they can do no lefs than hate and fear thole by
whom they know themfelves to be hated. The
Italians '^ ordinarily fay, that he who does an injury
never pardons, becaufe he thinks he is never pardon-
ed : but he that enllaves and oppreffes a people does
an injury which can never be pardoned, and there-
fore fears it will be revenged.

Other princes w^ho come their thrones by better
ways, and are not contented with the power that
the law allows, draw the fame hatred upon them-
felves when they endeavour by force or fraud to en-
large it y and muft neceifarily fear and hate their own
people as much as he who by the ways before-men-
tion'd has betray 'd or fubdued them. Our author
makes nothing of this ; but taking it for granted
that it was all one whether Samuel fpoke of a king
or a tyrant, declares that the fam^e patient obedience
is due to both 3 but not being pleafed to give any
reafon why we fl:\ould believe him, I intend to of-
fer fome v/hy we ftiould not.

Firft, there is nothing in the nature or inflitution
of monarchy that obhges nations to bear the exor-
bitances of it when it degenerates into tyranny.

In the fecond place, we have no precept for
it.

Thirdly, v/e have many approved examples,
and occaiional particular commands to the con-
trary.

* Chi fa injuria non perdona mai.

I. To

t:i DISCOURSES Chap. III.

I . To tl e lirll: : The point of paternity being
explained ; the duty of children to parents proved to
proceed from the benefits received from them, and
that the power over them, v^hich at the firft feems
to iiave been left at large, becaufe it was thought
they would never abufe it, has long fince been much
reftrain'd in ail civilized nations, and particularly in
our own, we may conclude that men are all made
of the fame pafce, and that one owes no more to
another than another to him, unlefs for fome bene-
fit received, or by virtue of fome promife made.
The duty arlfln? from a benefit received muft be
proportionable to it : that which grows from a pro-
mife is determined by the promife or contrad: made,
according to the true fcnfe and meaning of it. He
therefore that would know what the Babylonians,
Hebrev/s, Athenians, or Romans did owe to Nimrod,
Saul, Thefeus or Romulus, muft enquire what
benefits were receiv^ed from them, or what was pro-^-
mifed to them. It cannot be faid that any thing was
due to them for the fake of their parents ; they could
have no prerogative by birth : Nimrod was the fixth
fon of Chufli the fon of Ham, who was the
youngeft fon of Noah : his kingdom was ere{D:ed
whilft Noah and his eldeft fons Shem and Japhet, as
well as Ham, Chuih, and his elder fons were ftill
living. Saul was the fon of Chifli, a man of Ben-
jamin, who was the youngeft fon of Jacob ; and
he was chofen in the mo ft democratical way by lot
amongft the whole people. Thefeus according to
the cuftom of the times pretended to be the fon of
Neptune ; and Rhea was fo well pleafed with the
foldier that had gotten her with child, thatfhe refolved
to think or fay that Mars was the father of the chil-
dren, that is to fay they were baftards -, and therefore
whatever was due to them was upon their own per-

proved

Sea. I. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 32

fonal account, without any regard to their progenitors^
This muft be meafured according to what they did
for thofe nations before they were kings, or by the
manner of their advancement. Nothing can be
pretended before they were kings : Nimrod rofe
up after the confufion of languages, and the
people that underftood the tongue he fpoke, followed
him ; Saul was a young man unknown in Ifrael ;
Thefeus and Romulus had nothing to recommend
them before other Athenians and Romans, except the
reputation of their valour; and the honours conferred
upon them for that reafon, maft proceed from ex-
peftation or hope, and not from gratitude or obliga-
tion. It mud therefore proceed from the manner
by which they came to be kings. He that neither is
nor has any title to be a king, can come to be fo
only by force or by confent. If by force, he does
not confer a benefit upon the people, but injures
them in the moil outragious manner. If it be poffi-
ble therefore or reafonable to imagine that one man
did ever fubdue a multitude, he can no otherwife
refemble a father, than the v/orft of all enemies who
does the greateft mifchiefs, refembles the beft of
all friends who confers the moft ineflimable benefits,
and confequently does as juftly deferve the utmoft
effeds of hatred, as the other does of love, refped-,
and fervice. If by confent, he who is raifed from
amongft the people, and placed above his brethren,
receives great honours and advantages, but confers
none. The obligations of gratitude are on his fide,
and whatfoever he does in acknowledgement to his
benefadors for their love to him, is no more than
his duty ; and he can demand no m.ore from them
than what they think fit to add to the favours al-
ready received. If more be pretended, it muft be by-
virtue of that contrad, and can no otherwife be

the

J4 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

proved than by producing It to be examined, that
the true fenfe^ meaning, and intention of it may be
known.

This contrad: muft be in form and fubflance ac-
cording to a general rule given to all mankind, ot
fuch as is left to the will of every nation* If a
general one be pretended, it ought to be fliown, that
by enquiring into the contents,, we may underftand
the force and extent of it. If this cannot be done^
it may juftly pafs for a fiction, no conclulion can be
drawn from it ; and we may be fure, that what
contra(fls foever have been made betv\^een nations
and their kings, have been framed according to the
will of thofe nations 3 and confequently how many
foever they are, and vvhatfoever the fenfe of any or
all of them may be, they can oblige no man, ex-
cept thofe, or at moil the defendants of thofe that
made them. Whoever therefore would perfuade
us, that one or more nations are, by virtue of thofe
contradls, bound to bear all the infolences of ty-
rants, is obliged to ihow, that by thofe con-
trafe they did for ever indefinitely bind them-
felves fo to do, how great foever they might
be.

I may juftly go a ftep farther, and affirm, • that if
any fuch ihould appear in the vv^orld, the folly and
turpitude of the thing would be a fbfficient evidence
of the madnefs of thofe that made it, and utterly
deftroy the contents of it : but no fuch having been
as yet produced, nor any reafon given to perfuade -
a wife man that there has ever been any fuch, at leaft
among civilized nations, (for whom only v/e are
concerned) it may be concluded there never was
any -, or if there were, they do net at all relate to
our fubjed: ; and confequently that nations fcill con-
tinue in their native liberty, and are no otherwife
4 obliged

Sea. I. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. i^

obliged to endure the infolence of tyrants, than they^
or each of them may efteem them tolerable.

2. To the fecond : tho' the words of Samuel had
implied a neceffity incumbent. upon the Hebrews to
bear all the injuries that their kings fhould do to.
them, it could no way relate to us -, for he does not
fpeak of all kings, but of fuch as they had alted,
even fuch as reigned over the flavifh Afiatics their
neighbours, who are no lefs infamous in the world
for their bafenefs and cowardice, than deteftable for
their idolatry and vices. It was not a plot or trick
of Samuel to keep the government in himfelf and
family: fuch fcurrilous expreflions or thoughts are fit
only for Filmer, Heylin, and their difciples : but the
prophet being troubled at the folly and vv^ickednefs
of the people, who chofe rather to fubjed: themfelves
to the irregular will of a man, than to be governed
by God and his law, did, by the immediate com-
mand of God, declare to them what would be the
event of their fury -, that fince they would be like
to their neighbours in iin and folly, he told them
they fliould be like to them in fhame and mifery •
fince they defired to caft off the thing that v^as good,
they fhould fuffer evil as the produd of their ov/n
counfels; and that when they fliould cry to the
Lord from a icnk of their mh'eries, he does not tell
them, as our author falfly fays, they fhould have no
other remedy againft tyrants but crying and prayings
but that their cries and prayers fhould not be heard.
It was jufl that when they had rejed:ed God, he
fliould rejed: them, and leave them under the weight
of the calamities they had brought upon themfelves.
In all other cafes God had ever faid, that when his
people returned to him, he would hear and fave them.
When they cried by reafon of the oppreflions they fuf-
fered under the Egyptians, Canaanitcs, Midianites, Phi-

liflines.

i6 DISCOURSES Chap. lit

liilineSj and othurs, tho' their crimes had deferved
them all, yet God heard and relieved them. But
when they meditated this final defeftion from liis
law, and rejedlion of his government, God feemed
to change his nature, and forget to be gracious ;
*' When ye fliall cry to me by reafon of your king,
" I w\U not hear you :" this was the ftrongefl de^
hortation from their wicked intention that can be ima-
gir.ed 5 but being not enough to reclaim them, they
anfwered, '' Nay, but we will have a king." They
were like to their neighbours in folly and vice, and
would be like to them in 2:overnment: v/hich brought
all the caianiities upon them that the others fuffer'd.
But I know not what conclufion can be drawn from
hence in favour of our author's do&ine, unlefs all
nations are obliged farioufly to run into the fame
crimes with tne Ifrarlites, or to take upon them-
felves the fame pun i (lament, tho' they do not com-
mit the fame crimes.

If this v/as not a precept to the Ifraelites, inftrufl^
ing them what they inould do, but a denunciation
of what they fliouid fuffer for the evil which they
had committed, the old teftament will afford none ;
and I hope in due time to anfwer fuch as he alledges
from the new. Nay, we may conclude there can
be none there, becaufe being dictated by the fame
fpirit, which is always uniform and conflant to it
felf, it could not a^^ree with the 17th of Deuteron*
which fo extremely refl:rains fuch a king as God al-
lowed, as not to fufn^r him in any manner to raife
his heart above his brethren ; and was faid in vain,
if at the fame time it gave him a power which
might not be refilled, or forbad others to refill him
if he would not obey the law.

3. To the third; Vv'hatibever was done by the com-
mand of God againfl Pharaoh king of Egypt, and

againfl

Sea. I. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 17

againft the kings of the Canaanites, Midianites,
Moabites, Edomites, Amorites or Philiftines, by
Mofes, Jofliua, Ehud, Barak, Gideon, Samplbn,
Jeohtha, Samuel, r.nd the reft of the judges, comes
exprefly under the particular precepts and examples
promifed by me, to fhow, that God had occafion-
ally commanded, and his fervants executed his com-
mands in refifting and deRroying the perfons of
kings, who were their own kings alf^, if poflefilon
was only to be regarded. And tho' this be fufficient
to overthrow our author's doGrine 5 " That vv^e are
" not to examine the titles of kings, whether they
*' be from ufjrpation, or any other means 3 but on-
*' ly to look upon the pov/er :'' 3^et they who feek
truth, ought not to content themfelves-m.erely with
vid:ory ; or to efteem that a viQiorj, which is ob-
tained by what the fchccls call Argumentum ad ho-
minera, grounded upon a falfe propoiition, and is of
no force except againft thofe who are fo ill advifed
to advance it. Therefore laying afide the advantages
that may be juftly taken againft Filmer, for the folly
of afferting the fame right to be in an ufurper, as in
a lawful prince ; and confefGng that tho' fuch as
have no title, may and ought to be fuppreifed as
enemies and robbers, when refpe6l and obedience is
due to thofe who are rightly inftituted ; I fay, that
none can be claimed by a prince lav/fully inftituted,
if he affume to himfelf a power which is not grant-
ed to him by the law of his infcitution, bec-;ufe, as
Grotius fays *, " his legal power doss not extend
*' fo far ," or turn the power that is given him, to
ends contrary to thofe for w^^ich it was given, be-
caufe he thereby deftroys it, and puts himfelf into
the fame condition as if it had never been. This is
proved by the example of Saul ; tho' the peoole

* QiirL e?:tenus non Labct i'mperium. l^ejiir.heL

Vol, II. 'C fmned

c

i8 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

finned grievoufly in ajQcing a king, yet God affent-
ing to their demand, no prince was ever more fo-
lemnly inftituted than he. The people chofe him
by lot from amongil all the tribes, and he was plac d
in the throne by the general confent of the whole
nation : but he turning his lawful power into ty-
ranny, difobeying the word of the prophet, flaying
the priefts, fparing the Amalekites, and oppreffing
the innocent, overthrew his own right; and God
declared the kingdom, which had been given him
under a conditional promife of perpetuity, to be in-
tirely abrogated. This did not only give a right to
the whole people of oppofing him, but to every par-
ticular man ; and upon this account David did not
only fly from his fury, but refifted it. He made
himfelf head of all the difcon tented perfons that
would follow him : he had at firft four, and after-
wards fix hundred m.en -, he kept thefe in arms
againfl: Saul, and lived upon the country ^ and re-
folved to deftroy Nabal with all his houfe, only for
refufing to fend provifions for his men. Finding
himfelf weak and unfafe, he went to Achifh the
Philifliinc, and offered his fervice even againfl: Ifrael.
This w^as never reputed a fin in David, or in thofe
that followed him, by any except the wicked court-
flatterer Doeg the Edomite, and the drunken fool
Nabal, who is faid to have been a man of Belial.

If it be obje(fled, that this was rather a flight than
a war, in as much as he neither killed Saul nor his
men, or that he made war as a king anointed by Sa-
muel ; I anfwer, that he who had fix hundred men,
and entertained as many as cam.e to him, fufficiently
fliew'd his intention rather to refifl; than to fly : and
no other rcafon can be given why he did not farther
purfue that intention, than that he had no greater
power : and he who arms fix hundred men againfl:

his

Sea. I. CONCERNING GOVERNiMENT. iq

his prince, when he can have no more, can no more
be faid to obey patiently, than if he had To many
hundreds of thoufands. This holds; tho' he kill
no man, for that is not the war, but the manner of
making it : and 'twere as abfard to fay David made
no war, becaufe he killed no men, as that Charles
the eighth made no war in Italy, becaufe Guicciar-
din fays, he conquered Naples without breaking a
lance. But as David's ftrength increafed, he grew
to be lefs fparing of blood. Thofe who fay kings
never die, but that the right is immediately transfer-
ed to the next heirs, cannot deny that Iftiboflieth
inherited the right of Saul, and that David had no
other right of making war againft him., than againft
Saul, unlefs it were conferred upon him by the tribe
ofjudahthat made him king. If this be true, it
'muft be confelTed that not only a wliole people, but
a part of them, may at their own pleafure abrogate
a kingdom, tho* never fo well efiablifiied by com-
mon confent ; for none was ever nlore folemnly in-
ftituted than that of Saul 3 and few fabjecls have
iTiore ftrongly obliged themfelves to be obedient. If
it be not true, the example of Nabal is to he fol-
lowed j and David, tho' guided by the ij^irit of
God, deferves to be condemned as a fellow that rofe
up againft his mafter.

If to elude this it be faid, that God inftituted and
abrogated Saul's kingdom, and that David to whom
the right v/as tranfm.itted, might therefore proceed
againft him and his heirs as private men : I anfwer,
that if the obedience due to Saul proceeded from
God's inilitution, it can extend to none but thofe
who are fo peculiarly inftituted and anointed by his
command, and the hand of his prcpliet, which will
be of little advantao;e to the kings that can in\^c rio

C 2 ttfli-

20 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

tejllimony of fuch an inftltution or undllon ; and an
indifputable right will remain to every nation of
abrogating the kingdoms which are inftituted by
and for themfelves. But as David did refifl: the au-
thority of Saul and Ifhbofheth, without affuming
the power of a king, tho' defigned by God, and
anointed by the prophet, till he was made king of
Judah by that tribe; or arrogating to himfelf a
power over the other tribes till he was made king
by them, and had entered into a covenant with
them 3 'tis much more certain that the perfons and
authority of ill kings, who have no title to the pri-
vileges due to Saul by virtue of his inftitution, may
be juflly re lifted ^ w^hich is as much as is neceflary
to my purpofe.

Objed:. But * David's heart fmote him when he
had cut off the fkirt of Saul's garm.ent, and he would
hot fuffcr Abifliai to kill him. This might be of
fome force, if it were pretended that every man was
obliged to kill an ill king, whenfoever he could do
it, which I think no man ever did fay ; and no man
having ever affirmed it, no more can be concluded
than is confelTcd by all. But how is it poffible that
a man of a generou^fpirlt, like to David, could fee
a great and valiant king, chofen from amongfl all
the tribes of Ifrael, anointed by the command of
God and the hand of the prophet, famous for vic-
tories obtained againft the enemies of Ifrael, and a
wonderful deliverance thereby purchafed to that
people, call at his feet ta receive life or death from
the hand of one whom he had fo furioufly perfe-
cuted. and from whom he leafl: deferved, and could
leaft expe(5t mercy, without extraordinary commo-
tion of mind, mofl efpecially when Abilhai, who

* J Sam. xxvi,

I faw

Sed. r . CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 2 1

faw all that he did, and thereby ought bell to have
known his thoughts, expreffed fo great a readinefs
to kill him ? This could not but make him rcfle(5l
upon the inftability of all that feemcd to be mofl
glorious in men, and fliew him that if Saul, who
had been named even among the prophets, and af-
filed in an extraordinary manner to accomplidi
fuch great things, was fo abandoned and given over
to fury, mifery and fliame ; he that feerned to be
moft firmly eftabliilied ought to take care left he
fhould fall.

Surely thefe things are neither to be thought
ftranee in relation to Saul, v/ho was God's anointed,
nor communicable to fuch as are not : fome may
fuppofe he was king by virtue of God's undion (tho*
if that were true, he had never been chofen and
made king by the people) but it were madnefs to
think he became God's anointed by being king :
for if that were Co, the fame right and title would
belong to every king, even to thofe who by his
command were accurfed and deftroyed by his fer-
vants Mofes, Jofhua and Samuel. The fame men,
at the fame time, and in the fame fenfe, would be
both his anointed and accurfed, loved and detefted
by him ; and the moft facred privileges made to ex-
tend to the worft of his enemies.

Again ; the war made by David was not upon
the account of being king, as anointed by Samuel,
but upon the common natural right of defending
himfelf againft the violence and fury of a wicked
man ; he trufted to the promife, '^ that he ftiould
*^ be king," but knew that as yet he was not fo :
and when Saul found he had fpared his life, he
faid, *' I now know well that thou ftialt furely be
'' king, and that the kingdom of Ifrael fliall furely
*^ be eftabliftied in thy hand "* 3" nut that it was al-

* 1 Sam. xxiv.

C 3 ready.

22 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

already. Nay David himfelf v/as fo far from tak-
ing upon him to, be king, till the tribe of Judah had
chofen him, that he often acknovvdedeed Saul to be
his lord. When Baanah and Rechab brought the
head of Ifhboflieth to him, he commanded them to
be .(lain ; " becaufe they had killed a righteous man
'^ upon his bed, in his own houfe *;' which he could
not have faid, if liliboflieth had unjuftly detained
from him the ten tribes, and that he had a right to
reign over them before they had chofen him. The
word of God did not make him king, but only fore-
told that he fhould be king ; and by fuch w^ays as
he pleafed prepared the hearts of the people to fet
him up ; and till the time defigned by God for that
work was accomplifhed, he pretended to no other
authority, than what the fix hundred m.en who firft
followed him, aftcrw^ards the tribe of Judah, and
at laft all the reft of the people, conferred upon
him.

I in no way defend Abfalom's revolt -, he was
wicked, and aded wickedly -, but after his death no
man was ever blamed or queftioned for fiding with
him : and A mala who commanded his army, is re-
prefented in fcripture as a good man, even David fay-
ing, that Joab by flaying Abner and Amafa, had
killed "^ tvv^o mxCn who were better than himfelf -f- ;
whicli could not have been, unlefs the people had
a right of looking into matters of government, and
of redrciling abufes : tho' being deceived by Abfa-
lom, they fo far erred, as to pi'efer him, w^ho was
in all refpeifls wicked, before tb.e man^ who, except
in the matter of Uriah, is faid to be after God's
own heart. This right was acknowledged by Da-
vid h'mfelf, when he commanded Hufliai to fay
to Abfalom, '' j 1 will be thy fervant O king j'*

* 2 Sam. iv. f 2 Sam. xx.- % z Kings.

and

Sea. 2. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 23

and by Hufhai in the following chapter, '^ Nav,
'' but whom the Lord and bis people, and all the
'^ men of Ifrael choofe, his will I be, and with him
" will I abide 3" which could have no fcnfe in it,
unlefs the people had a right of choofing, and that
the choice in which they generally concurred, was
efteemed to be from God.

But if Saul who was made king by the whole
people, and anointed by the command of God,
might be lawfully reiifted when he departed from
the law of his inilitution -, it cannot be doubted that
any other for the like reafon may be refilled. If
David, tho' deligned by God to be king, and anointed
by the hand of the prophet, was not king till the
people had chofen him, and he had made a covenant
with them; it will, if I miftake not, be hard to
find a man who can claim a right which is not ori-
ginally from them. And if the people of Ifrael
could erecl and pull down, inflitute, abrogate, or
transfer to other perfons or families, kingdoms more
firmly eftabliihed than any we know, the fame right
cannot be denied to other nations.

SECT. II.

The kings of If ael and "Judah were under a law not

jofe^.y to be tranfgrejs'd,

OUR author might be pardon'd if he only vent-
ed his own follies; but he aggravates his own
crime, by imputing them to men of more credit ;
and tho' I cannot look upon Sir Walter Raleigh as a
very good interpreter of fcripture, he had too much
underfcanding to fay, " That if practice declare the
" greatnefs of authority, even the beft kings of Ifrael
" and Judah were not tied to any law, but they
'V did whatfoever they pleafed in the greatefl: mat-

C 4 • ': ters i"

24 ' DISCOURSES Chap. III.

^' terSj" for there is no fenfe in thofe words. If prac-
tice declares the greatnefs of authority, even the
bell were tied to no law, fignifies nothing, for prac-
tice cannot declare the greatnefs of authority. Peter
the cruel of Caftiile, and Chrifdern the fecond of
Denmark, kill'd v/hom they pleas'd ; but no man
ever thought they had therefore a right to do fo :
and if there was a law, all v/ere tied by it, and the
beft were lefs likely to break it than the worft. But
if Sir Walter Raleigh's opinion"^, which he calls a
conjedure, be taken, there was fo great a difference
between the kings of Ifrael and Judah, that as to
their general pro.eedings in point-of power, hardly
any thing can be faid which may rightly be applied
to both ; and he there endeavours to f|iow, that the
reafon w^hy the ten tribes did not return to the houfe
of David, after the dellrudlion of the houfes of Je-
roboam and Baafha, w^as, becaufe they would not
endure a power fo abfolute as that which v/as exer-
cifed by the houfe of David. If he has there-
fore any where faid that the kings did what they
Dleafed, it muft be in the fenfe that Mofes Maimo-
nides fays, the kings of Ifrael committed many ex-
travagancies, becaufe they were '' -f-infolent, impi-
" ous, and defpifexs of the law." Bat whatfoever
Sir Walter Raleigh may fay (for I do not remember
his words, and have not leifure to feek whether any
fuch are found in his books) 'tis moft evident that
they did not what they pleafed. The tribes that
did not fibmit to David, nor crown him till
they thought fit, and then made a covenant with
him, took care it mio;ht be obferved whether he
would or not. Abfalom's rebellion follow'd by al-
moil all Ifrae], v/as a terrible check to his will.

* 2 L L;/!. cap. ig.

7 Quia iuperbi erani corde, impii, d- fpretores legis. Mor. 'Ne^^joch.

That

Seft. 2. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 25

That of Sheba, the fon of Bichri, was Hke to havs
been worfe, if it had not been fuppreffed by Joab's
diUgence ; and David often confefled the fons of
Zerviah were too hard for him. Solomon indeed
overthrowing the lav/ given by Mofcs, multiplying
gold and filver, wives and horfes, introducing ido-
latry, and lifting up his heart above his brethren,
did v/hat he pleafed ; but Rehoboam paid for all :
the ten tribes revolted from him, by reafon of the
heavy burdens laid upon them ; ftoned Adoram who
was fent to levy the tributes, and fet up Jeroboam,
who, as Sir Walter Raleigh fays in the place before
cited, had no other title than the curtefy of the
people, and utterly rejefed the houfe of David. If
pradice therefore declares a right, the practice of
the people to avenge the injuries they fuffered from
their kings, as foon as they found a man fit to be
their leader, fliews they had a right of doing it.

'Tistrue, the befl: of the kings, v/ith Mofes, Jo-
fhua, and Samuel, may in one fenfe be faid to have
done what they pleafed, becaufe they defired to do
that only which was good. But this will hardly be
brought to confer a right upon ail kings : and I deny
that even the kings of Judah did v/hat they pleafed,
or that it were any thing to ourqueflion if they did.
Zedekiah profeflTed to the great men (that is, to the
Sanhedrin) '' That without them he could do no-
" thing*." When Amaziah, by his folly, had
brought a great fiaughter upon the tribe of Judah,
they confpired againft him in public council 3 where-
upon he fled to Lahifh y , and they purfuing him
thither, killed him, avowed the fad:, and it was
neither queftion'd nor blamed: which examples agree
with the paraphrafe of Jofephus J on Deut J7.
" fie fliail do nothing without the confent of the

* Jerem. xxxyiii. •[■ 2 Kings xiv. J Antiq. Jud.

I ■vSn-

26 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

'' Sanhedrin ; and if he attempt it they fhall hinder
*' him." This was the law of God, not to be ab-
rogated by man ; a law of hberty diredlly oppolite
to the neccfiity of fubmitting to the will of a man.
This was a gift bellowed by God upon his children
and people -, whereas flavery was a great part of the
ciirfe denounced a2;ainft kluvn tor his wickednefs,
and perpetually incumbent upon his pofterity. The
great Sanhedrin were conftituted judges, as Grotius
fays, moft particularly of fuch matters as concerned
their kings ; and Maimonides affirms, thac the kings
were judged by them: the diilribution of the power
to the inferior Sanhedrins, in every tribe and city,
with the right of calling the people together in ge-
neral ^iTemblies as often as occalion required, were
the foundations of their liberty ; and being added
to the law of the kingdom prescribed in the 1 7th of
Deuetronomy (if they fliould think fit to have a king)
eftablifhed the freedom of that people upon a folid
foundation. And tho' they in their fury did in a
gi'eat meafure w^ave the benefits God had beflowed
upon them ; yet there was enough left to reflrain
the lulls of their kings. Ahab did not treat with
Naboth as a fervant, whole perfon and eflate de-
pended upon his will, and does not feem to have
been fo tender-hearted to grieve much for his refufalj
if by virtue of his royal authority he could have
taken away his vineyard and his life : but that fail-
ing, he had no other way of accompli ihiiig his de-
iign, than by the fraud of his accurfed wife, and
the perfidious wretches ilie employed. And no bet-
ter proof that it did fail, can realbnably be required,
than that he was obliged to have recourfe to fuch
fordid, odious, and dangerous remedies : but we are
furniflied with one that is more unqueflionabie ;

Hafl

Sea. 3. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 27

*« Haft thou killed, and alfo taken pcffeffion ? In
^' the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth,
" fliall they lick thy blood, even thine ■^'\" This
fhews that tlie kings were not only under a law,
but under a law of equality with the reft of the
people, even that of retaliation. He had raifed his
heart above his brethren j but God brought him
down, and made him to fuffer what he had done ;
he was in all refpcds wicked, but the juftice of
this fentence confifted in the law he had broken,
which could not have been, if he had been fubje^t
to none. But as this retaliation was the funi of all
the judicial law given by God to his people, the
fentence pronounced againft Ahab in conformity to
it, and the execution committed to Jehu, fhevj/s,
that the kings were no lefs obliged to perform the
law than other men, tho' they were not fo eafily
punifhed for tranfgreiTing it as others were ; and if
many of them did efcape, it perfedtly agrees with
what had been foretold by Samuel.

SECT. III.

Samuel did not defcribe to the Ifraelites the glory of
a free monarchy ; but the evils the people jhould
fffer^ that he might divert them frojn dcfiring a
king,

^T~^ H C no reftraint had been put upon the lufts
\ of the Hebrew kings, it could be no prejudice
to any other nation. They defiedted from the law
of God ; and receding him that he ihould reign over
them no longer, they fell into that mifery which could
affed: none but thofe who enjoy the fame bleflings,
and with the fame fury defpife them. If their kings
had more power than confifted with their welfare^

* I Kin2:s xxi.

i:>-

thev

2S DISCOURSES Chap. III.

they gave it, and God renounces the inftitution of
■* fach. He gave them a law of liberty; and if they
fell into the fliame and mifery that accompanies
ilavery, it was their own work. They were not
obliged to have any king -, and could not without a
crime have any but one, who niuft not raife his heart
above the reft of them. This was taught by Mofes :
and Samuel who fpoke by the fame fpirit could not
contradid: him; and in telling the people what fuch
a king as they defired would do when he fhould be
e;ftabiifhed, he did announce to them the mifery they
would bring upon themfelves, by choofmg fuch a
one as he had forbidden. This free monarchy,
which our author thinks to be fo majeftically defcrib-
ed, was not only difpleafing to the prophet, but de-
clared by God to be a rejection of him, and incon-
fiftent with his reign over them.. This might have
been fufficient to divert any other people from their
furious refolution ; but the prophet farther enforcing
his difluafion, told them, that God (w^ho had in all
other cafes been their helper) would not hear them
when they fhould cry to him by reafon of their kingv
This is the majeftic defcription of that free monarchy
with v/hich our author is fo much pleafed : it was
difpleafing to the prophet, hateful to God, an aggra-
vation of all the crimes they had committed fince
tliey came out of Egypt, and that which would
bring (as it did) moft certain and irreparable deflruc-
tion upon themfelves.

But it feems the regal m^ajefty In that age was in
its infancy, and little in comparifon of that which
we find defcribed by Tacitus, Suetonius, and others
in later times. He fhall take your fons, fays Samuel,
and fet them over his chariots, and your daughters

* Ye have chofen kings, bat not by me ; and princes, but I knov?
tlicm not. Ho/.

to

Sea. 3. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 29

to make them confedlioners and cooks ; but the ma-
jefty of the Roman emperors was carried to a higher
pitch of glory. Ahab could not, without employ-
ing treachery and fraud, get a fmall fpot of ground
for his money to make a garden of herbs : but Tibe-
rius, Caligula and Nero killed whom they pleafed,
and took what they pleafed of their eftates. When
they had fatiated their cruelty and avarice by the
murders and confifcations of the moil: eminent and
beft men, they commonly expofed their children to
the luft of their flaves. If the power of doing
evil be glorious, the utmoft excefs is its perfediion ^
and 'tis pity that Samuel knew no more of the etteds
produced by unreftrained luft, that he might have
made the defcription yet more majeftic : and as
nothing can be fufFer'd by man beyond conftupration,
torments and death, inftead of fuch trifles as he
mentioned, he might have fhew^'d them the effedls
of fury in its greateft exaltation.

If it be good for a nation to live under fuch a
power, why did not God of his own goodnefs in-
ftitute it? Did his wifdom and love to his people fail ?
Or if he himfelf had not {ct up the beft government
over them, could he be difpleafed with them for
afking it ? Did he feparate that nation from the reft
of mankind, to m.ake their condition Vv'orfe than
that of others ? Or can they be faid ta- have
finned and rejedlcd God, when they defir'd nothing
but the government, which by a perpetual ordinance
. he had eftabliflied over all the nations of the Vv'-orld ?
Is not the law of nature a rule which he has given
to things ? and the law of man's nature, which is
reafon, an emanation of the divine wifdom, or
fome footfteps of divine light remaining in us? Is it
poffible that this which is from God, can be con-
trarv to his will ; and can he be offended with thofc

who

30 DISCO U R S E S Chap. III.

who deiire to live in a conformity to that law ? Or
could it juftly be faid, the people had chofen that
which is not good, if nothing in government be good
but what they chofe ?

But as the woril men delight in the worft things^
and fools are pleafed with the moft extreme abfur-
dities, he (i. e. Filmer) not only gives the higheft
praifes to that which bears fo many marks of God's
hatred 3 but after having faid that xA.braham, Ifaac,
Jacob, and Mofes were kings, he goes on, and fays,
"' The Ifraelites begged a king of Samuel^" which
had been impertinent, if the magiftrates infcituted
by the law were kings : and tho' it might be a folly
in them to aflc what they had already, it could be
no fin to defire that which they enjoyed by the ordi-
nance of God. If they were not kings, it follows
that the only government fet up by God aniongft
men wanted the principal part, even the head and foun-
dation, from whence all the other parts have their
action and being; that is, God's law is againfl God's
law, and deftroys it felf.

But if God did neither by a general and perpetual
ordinance eftablilh over all nations the monarchy which
Samuel defcribes, nor prefcribe it to his own people
by a particular com^mand, it was purely the peoples
creature, the producfrion of their own fancy, con-
ceived in wickednefs, and brought forth in iniquity,
an idol fet up by themfelves to their own deftrucftion,
in imitation of their accurfed neig-hbours : and their
reward was no better than the conceflion of an impi-
o.us petition, which is one of God's heavieft judg-
ments. Samuel's words are acknowledged by all
interpreters, who were not malicious or mad, to be
a diffiaafion from their wicked purpofe ; not a de-
fcriptioii of w^hat a king might juitly do by virtue of
his Oiiice, but what thole who fnould be fet up

againft

Sea. 4. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. g i

againil God aad his law would do v/hen they fliould
have the power in their hands : and 1 leave fuch as
have the underftandings of men, and are not aban-
doned by God, to judge what influence this ought
to have upon other nations, either as to obligation or
imitation.

SECT. IV'.

No people ca?i be obliged to fuffer Jrom their kings,
what they have not a right to do,

OUR author's next w^ork is to tell us, th?.t
'' the fcope of Samuel was to teach the people
" a dutiful obedience to their king, even in the
^^ things that they think mifchievous or inconvenient:
** for by telling them what the king would do, he
'*' indeed inftrudls them what a fubje(St muft fuffer :
*^ yet not fo that it is right for kings to do injury,
*' but it is right for them to go unpunifhed by the
" people if they do it ; fo that in this point it is air
" one whether Samuel defcribe a king or a tyrant."
This is hard, but the concluiion is grounded upon
nothing. There is no relation between a prediction
that a thing iliali be attempted or done to me, and a
precept that I fliall not defend my felf, or puniih
the perfon that attempts or does it. If a prophet
fhould fay that a thief lay in the way to kill me, it
might reafonably perfaade me not to go, or to go in
fuch a manner as to be able to defend myfelt ; but
can no way oblige me to fubmit to the violence that
fliall be offer'd, or my friends and children not to
avenge my death if I fall % much lefs can other men
be deprived of the natural right of defending
themfeives by my imprudence or obilinacy in not
taking the warning given, whereby I might have
preferved my life. For every man has a right of

refill-

S2 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

refifting feme way or other that which ought not
to be done to him ; and tho* human laws do not in
all cafes make men judges and avengers of the in-
' iuries ofter'd to them, I think there is none that does
not juftify the man w^ho kills another that offers
violence to him, if it appear that the way prefcribed
by the law for the prefervation of the innocent can-
not be talcen. This is not only true in the cafe of
outragious attempts to affaffmate or rob upon the
hi^-hwav, but in divers others of lefs m.oment. I
knew a man who being appointed to keep his mailer's
park, killed three men in one night that came to dc-
ftroy his deer 3 and putting himfelf into the hands of
the magiftrate, and confefling the fad: both in matter
and manner, he was at the public aiiizes not only
acquitted, but commended for having done his duty j
and this in a time when 'tis well known iuftice was
leverely adminifcred, and little favour expedled by
him or his matter. Nay, all laws muft fall, human
focietics that fubfiil by them be difiblved, and all
innocent perfons be expofed to the violence of the
m.oft wicked, if men mdght not iuttly defend them-
felves againft injuftice by their own natural right,
when the ways prefcribed by public authority cannot
be taken.

Our author may perhaps fay, this is true in all
except the king : and I defire to know why, if it be
■ true in all except the king, itfliould not be true in re-
lation to him? Is it poffible that he who is inftituted
for the obtaining of juftice, fhould claim the liberty
of doing iniuftice as a privilege ? Were it not better
for a people to be without law, than that a power
fhould be eftablillied by law to commit all manner
of violences with im.punity ? Bid not David relift
thofe of Saul ? Did he not make himfelf head of
the tribe of Judah^ when they revoked againft his

fon.

Sed. 4. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 33

fon, and afterwards of the ten tribes, that rejeded
his pofterity ? Did not the IfraeUtes ftone Adoram
who collected the taxes, revolt from the houfe of
David, fet up Jeroboam 3 and did not the prophet
fay it was from the Lord ? If it was from the Lord,
was it not good ? If it was good then, is it not fo
for ever ? Did good proceed from one root then,
and from another now ? If God had avenged the
blood of Naboth by fire from heaven, and deflroy'd
the houfe of Ahab, as he did the two captains and
their men who were fent to apprehend Elijah, it
might be faid, he referv'd that vengeance to him-
felf ; but he did it by the fvvord of Jehu and the
army (which was the people who had fet him up)
for an example to others.

But 'tis good to examine what this ^' dutiful obe-
*[ dience" is that our author mentions. Men ufual-
ly owe no more than they receive. 'Tis hard to
know what the Ifraelites owed to Saul, David, Jero-
boam, Ahab or any other king, whether good or
bad, till they were made kings : and the ad: of the
people by which fo great a dignity was conferr'd,
feems to have laid a duty upon them, who did re-
ceive more than they had to give : fo that fome thing
muft be due from them unlefs it were releas'd by
virtue of a covenant or promife made; and none
could accrue to them from the people afterwards,
unlefs from the merit of the perfon in rightly exe-
cuting his office. If a covenant or promife be pre-
tended, the nature and extent of the obligation can
only be know^n by the contents expreffed, or the true
intention of it. If there be a general form of co-
venant fet and agreed upon, to wdiich all nations
muft fubmit, it were good to know where it may
be found, and by whofe authority it is eftabliflied,
and then we may examine the fenfe of it. If no

VoL.IL D fuch

54 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill

fuch do appear, we may rationally look upon thofe
to be impoitors v/ho fliould go about from thence
to derive a right : and as that which does not appear.,
is as if it were not, we may juftly conclude there is
no other, or none that can have any effect, but fuch
as have been made by particular nations with their
princes ; which can be of no force or obligation to
others, nor to themfelves, any farther than accord-
ing to the true intention of thofe that made them.
There is no fach thing therefore as a dutiful obedi-
ence, or duty of being obedient, incumbent upon
all nations by virtue of any covenant ; nor upon any
particular nation, unlefs it be expreffed by a cove-
nant : and whoever pretends to a right of taking
our fons and daughters, lands or goods, or to go
unpuniflied if he do, muft fliow that thefe things
are expreffed or intended by the covenant.

Bat tho' nations for the moft part owe nothing to
kingS) till they are kings, and that it can hardly be
conceived, that any people did ever owe fo much to
a man, as might not be fully repaid by the honour
and advantages of fuch an advancement ; yet 'tis
poffible that wdien they are made kings, they may
by their good government lay fuch obligations upon
their fubjedls, as ought to be recompenfed by obedi-
'cnct and fervice. I'here is no mortal creature that
deferves fo well from mankind, as a wife, valiant,
diligent and juit king, who as a father cherifhes his
people 'y as a ihepherd feeds, defends, and is ready
to lay down his life for his flock 5 who is a terror
TO evil-doers, and a praife to thofe that do well. This
is a glorious prerogative, and he who has it is hap«
pv. But before this can be adjudged to belong to
all, it muil be proved that ail have the virtues that
deferve it , and he that exacts the dutiful obedience
tliat arifes from thein, mull prove that they are in

I him.

gear. 4. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 55

him. He that does this, need not plead for impu-
nity when he does injuries 5 for if he do them, he
is not the man we fpeak. of: not being fo, he can
have no title to the duty by human inlHtution or
covenant ; nor by divine law, fince, as is already
proved, God has neither eftablifhed kings over all
nations by precept, nor recommended them by ex-
ample, in fetting them over his own people. He
has not therefore done it at all -, there is no fuch
thing in nature ; and nations can owe nothing to
kings meerly as kings, but what they owe by the
contra 61 made with them.

As thefe contracts are made voluntarily, without
any previous obligation, 'tis evident men make them
in confideration of their own .good ; and they can
be of force no longer, than he with whom they are
made perform his part in procuring it ; and that if
he turn the power which was given to him for the
public good, to the public inconvenience and da-
mage, he muft neceffarily lofe the benefit he was to
receive by it. The word ''think" is fooliihly and af-
fectedly put in by our author ; for thofe matters are
very often fo evident, that even the weakeft know
them. No great fagacity is required to under ftand
thatjewd, flothful, ignorant, falfe, unjurt, cove-
tous and cruel princes bring inconveniencies and mif-
chiefs upon nations -, and many of them are fo evi-
dently guilty of fome or all thefe vices, that no man
can be miftaken in imputing them ; and the utmoft
calamities may rationally be expedled from them^
unlefs a remedy be applied.

But, fays he, Samuel by telling them ^' what the
" king would do, inftruds them what the fubjedts
'' muft fuffer, and that^'tis right he (hould go un-
'* puniflied :" but, by his favour, Samuel fays no
fuch thing ; neither is it to be concluded, that be-

D 2 caufe

3^ DISCOURSES Chap. III.

caufe a king will do wickedly, he muft be fuffer'd,
any more than a private man, who (hould take the
fame refolution. But he told them, that '^ when •
'' they fhould cry to the Lord by reafon of their
" king, he v/ould not hear them/' This was as
much as to fay, their ruin was unavoidable ; and
that, having put the power into the hands of thofe,
w^ho inftead of protecting w^ould opprefs them -, and
thereby having provoked God againft them, fo as he
would not hearken to their cries, they could have no
relief. But this was no fecurity to the authors of
their calamity. The houfes of Jeroboam, Baaflia
and Omri, efcaped not unpunifhed, tho' the people
did not thereby recover their liberty. The kings
had introduced a corruption that was inconfiftent
with it. But they who could not fettle upon a right
foundation to prevent future mifchiefs, could avenge
fuch as they had fuffered, upon the heads of thofe
who had caufed them, and frequently did it moft
feverely. The like befel the Romans, when by the
"violence of tyranny all good order was overthrown,
■ good dlfcipline extinguiflied, and the people corrupt-
ed. Ill princes could be cut in pieces, and mifchiefs
might be revenged, tho' not prevented. But 'tis
not fo everywhere, nor at all times ^ and nothing is
'more irrational, than from one or a few examples
to conclude a gencVal neceffity of future events.
They alter according to circumflances : and as fome
nations by deftroying tyrants could not deftroy ty-
ranny ', others in removing the tyrant, have cut up
tyranny by the roots. This variety has been (^^.n in
■ the fame nation at diff;;rent times : the Romans re-
' covered their liberty by expeliiryg Tarquin -, but re-
mained Haves noiwithfianding the Daughter of Cse-
^far. WJulft the body of the people was uncorrupt-
' ed, they cured the evil wirought by the perfon, in

taking

Sea. 4. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 37

taking him away. It. was no hard matter to take
the regal power that by one man had been enjoy 'd
for life, and to place it in the hands of two an-
nual magiflrates, whilft the nobility and people
were, according to the condition of that age, ftrong
and ready to maintain it. But when the mifchiief
had taken deeper root ^ when the beft part of the
people had periflied in the civil wars ; when- all their
eminent men had fallen in battle, or by the profcrip-
tions ; when their difcipline was loft, and virtue
aboliflied, the poor remains of the diftreffed people
were brought under the power of a mercenary ibU
diery, and found no relief When they kill'd one
tyrant; they often made room for a worfe : it availed
them nothing to cut off a rotten branch, whilft the
accurfed root remained, and fent forth new fprouts
of the fame nature to their deflruCtion. Other ge-
nerous nations have been fubdued beyond a poflibili-
ty of recovery ; and thofe that are naturally bafe.
Aide into the like mifery without the impulfe of an
exterior power. They are flaves by nature, and
have neither the underftanding nor courage that is
required for the conftitution and management of a
government within themfelves. They can no more
fubfiil without a mafler, than a flock without a
fliepherd. They have no comprehenfion of liberty,
and can neither dellre the good thev do not know,
nor enjoy it if it wxre beftowed upon them. They
bear all burdens ; and whatever they fuffer, they
have no other remedy or refuge, than in the mercy
of their lord. But fuch nations as are naturally
ftrong, ftout, and of good underftanding, ' whofe
vigour remains unbroken, manners uncorrupted,
reputation unblemifhed, and increafing in numbers ;
who neither want rrjen to make up fuch armies as
may defend them againft foreign or domeftic ene-

D 3 mies^

38 DISCOURSES Chap. Ilf.

mies, nor leaders to head them, do ordinarily fet
limits to their patience. They know how to pre^-
ferve their hberty, or to vindicate the violation of it ;
and the more patient they have been, the more in-
flexible they are when they refolve to be fo no long-
er. Thofe who are fo foolifh to put them upon
fuch courfes, do to their coft find th.at there is a
difference between lions and affes ; and he is a fool
who knows not that ^' fwords were given to men,
that none might be llaves, but fach as know not how
to ufe them.

SECT. V,

^ke mi/chiefs fuff'erd fro7n isiicked kings are fuch as
render it both reafonable and jufl Jor all nations
that have 'virtue and power to exert both in re-^
pelling tkeni.

IF our author deferve credit, we need not exa-
mine whether nations have a right of refifting,
or a reafonable hope of fucceeding in their endea^
vours to prevent or avenge the mifchiefs that are
feared or fuffered, for 'tis not worth their pains.
The inconveniencies, fays he, and miferies which
are reckoned up by Samuel, as belonging unto
kingly government, were not intolerable, but fuch
as have been and are ftill born by the fubjeds
free confent from their princes. Nay at this day,
and in this land, many tenants by their tenures
are tied unto the fame fubjeftion, even linto fub-
'^ ordinate and inferior lords." He is an excellent
advocate for kin2;lv governm.ent, that accounts in-
conveniencies and miferies to be fbme of the effen-
tials of it, which others efleem to be only incidents.
Tho' many princes are violent and wicked, yet feme

* Ignoratqae dates ne (jui%uam forviat enfes, Lucan,

have

cc

St'± 5. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 39

have been gentle and juft : tho' many have brougl.t
mifery upon nations, lome have been beneficial to
them : and they who are efteemed moll ievere
ao^ainll monarchy, think the evils that are often lu^-
fer'd under that form of government, proceed from
the corruption of it, or deviation from the principle
of its inftitution ; and that they are rather to be im-
puted to the vices of the perfon, than to the thing
itfelf j but if our author fpeak truth it is univerfaily
and eternally naughty inconvenience and mifery be-
long to it.

He thinks to mend this by faying, they are net
intolerable : but what is intolerable if inconveniencies
and miferies be not ? For what end can he think
governments to have been eftablifhed, unlefs to pre-
vent or remove inconveniencies and miferies r or how
can that be called a government which does not only
permit, but caufe them ? What can incline nations
to fet up governments ? Is it that they may fuffer
inconveniencies, and be brought to mifery ? or if it
be to enjoy happinefs, how can that fubfift under a
government, which not by adion, deflexion or cor-
ruption, but by a neceffity inherent in it felf, caufes
inconveniencies and miferies ? If it be pretended that
no human conftitution can be altogether free from
inconveniencies ; I anfwer, that the beft may to fome
degree fall into them, becaufe they may be corrupted ;
but evil and mifery can properly belong to none that
is not evil in its own nature. If Samuel deferve
credit, or may be thought to have fpoken fenfe, he
could not have enumerated the evils, which he fore-
faw the people fhould fuffer from their kings, nor
fay, that they fhould cry to the Lord by reafon of
them, unlefs they were in themfelves grievous, and
in comparifon greater than what they had fuffer'd or
known 5 fince that would not have diverted ther^

- D 4 from

40 DISCOURSES Chap. HI.

from their intention, but rather have confirmed
them in it. And I leave it to oiir author to fhow,
why any people Ihould for the pleafure of one or a
few men, eredtor fuffer that v^hich brings more of
evil w^ith it than any others.

Moreover, there is a great difference between that
which nations fometimes fuffer under kings, and that
wliich they willingly fuffer ; mofi: efpecially if our
author's maxim be received,, that all laws are the
mandates of kines, and the fubiefe liberties and
privileges no more than their gracious concefiions ;
for how patient foever they are under the evils they
fuffer, it m.ight reafonably be believ'd they are fo be-
caufe they know not how to help it : and this is
certainly the cafe of too many places that are known
to us. Whoever doubts of this, if he will not put
himfelf to the trouble of going to Turky or Morocco,
let him pafs only into Normandy, and afls: the naked,
barefooted and half-flarved people whether they are
willing to fuffer the miferies under v/hich they groan ;
and whether the magnificence of Verfailles, and the
pom.p of their haughty m-after, do any v/ay alleviate
their calamities. If this alfo be a matter of too much
pains, the wretches that come hither every day will
inform him, that it is not by their ov/n confent they
are deprived of all honours and offices in the
commonwealth, even of thofe, which by a corrupt
cuftom that had gained the force of a lav/, they
had dearly bought ; prohibited to exercife any trade ^
expofed to the utmoft eifed:s of fraud and violence,
if tliey refufe to adore their mafter's idols. They
will tell him, that 'tis not Vv^llingly they kcive their
lands and eftatesto feek a fhelter in the moft remote
parts of the world ; but becaufe they are under a
force which they are not able to reiift \ and becaufe

one

Sea. 5. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, 41

one part of the nation, which is enriched with the
fpoils of the other, have foohfhly contributed to lay
a yoke upon them which they cannot break.

To what he fays concerning tenures, I anfwer,
no man in England owes any fervice to his lord, un-
lefs by virtue of a contrad: made by himfelf or his
predeceffors, under which he holds the land granted
to him on that condition by the proprietor. There
may be fomething of hardfhip, but nothing of in-
juftice. 'Tis a voluntary act in the beginning and
continuance ; and all men knov/ that what is done to
one who is willing^" is no injury. He who did not
like the conditions, was not obliged to take the land ;
and he might leave it, if afterwards he came to
diflike them. If any man fay, the Hke may be done
by any one in the kingdom, I anfwer, that it is not
always true 3 the proteftants now in France cannot
without extreme hazard go out of that country, tho*
they are contented to lofe their eftates. 'Tis ac-
counted a crime, for which they are condemned
perpetually to the gallies, and fuch as are aiding to
them to grievous fines. But before this be acknow-
ledged to have any fimilitude or relation to our dif-
courfe concerning kings, it muft be proved, that the
prefent king, or thofe under whom he claims, is or
were proprietors of all the lands in England, and
granted the feveral parcels under the condition of
iuffering patiently fuch inconveniencies and miferies
as are above-m.entioned : or that they who did confer
the crown upon any of them, did alfo give a propri-
ety in the land ; v/hich I do not find in any of the
fifteen or fixteen titles that have been fince the coming
in of the Normans : and if it was not done to the
firfi: of every one, it cannot accrue to the others,

* Volenti noa fit inj aria,

unlefs

42 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

unlefs by fome new ad: to the fame purpofe, which
will not ealily be produced.

It will be no lefs difficult to prove that any thing
unworthy of free men is by any tenures impofed in
England, unlefs it be the offering up of the wives
and daughters of tenants to the luft of abbots and
monks ; and they are fo far from being willingly
fuffer'd, that fince the dens and nurferies of thofe
beafts were aboliihed, no man that fucceeds them
has had impudence fufficient to exacS the perfor-
mance ; and tho' the letter of the law may favour
them, the turpitude of the thing has extinguifhed
the ufage.

But even the kings of Ifrael and Judah, who
brought upon the people thofe evils that had been
foretold by Samuel, did not think they had a right to
the powers they exercifed. If the law had given a
right to Ahab to take the beft of their vineyards, he
might without ceremony have taken that of Naboth,
and by the majeftic power of an abfolute monarch,
have chaftized the churlifh clown, who refufed to fell ■
or change it for another : but for want of it, he was
obliged to take a very different courfe. If the lives
of fubjeds had in the like manner depended upon the
will of kings, David might without fcruple have
killed Uriah, rather than to place him in the front
of the army that he might fall by his own courage.
The malice and treachery of fuch proceedings argues
a defed: of power ; and he that ads in fuch an oblique
manner, fhews that his adions are not warranted
by the law, which is boldly executed in the face of
the fun. This Ihews the interpretation put upon
the words, '^ againft thee only have I finned *," by
court-flatterers, to be falfe. If he had not linned
againft Bathflieba whom he corrupted, Uriah whom

5 Pfal. II

Se6l. 5. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 43

he caufed to be killed, the people that he fcandalized,
and the law which he violated, he had never
endeavoured to cover his guilt by fo vile a fraud.
And as he did not thereby fly the light of God, but
of men, 'tis evident that he in that action feared men
more than God.

If by the examples of Ifrael and Judah, we may
judge whether the inconveniencies and miferies
brought upon nations by their kings be tolerable or
intolerable, it ^yill be enough to confider the madnefs
of Saul's cruelty towards his fubjeds, and the flaughter
brought upon them by the hand of the Philiilines on
mount Gilboa, where he fell with the flower of all
Ifrael ; the civil wars that happened in the time of
David, and the plague brought upon the people by
his wickednefs, the heavy burdens laid upon them by
Solomon, and the idolatry favour'd by him ; the
wretched folly of Rehoboam, and the defedion of the
ten tribes caufed by it; the idolatry eflabliflied by
Jeroboam and the kings of Ifrael, and that of many
of thofe of Judah alfo : the frequent wars and unheard
of flaughters enfuing thereupon between the tribes ;
the daily devaftations of the country by all forts of
ftrangers ; the murders of the prophets ; the aboli-
tion of God's worfhip ; the defolation of towns and
and provinces ; the captivity of the ten tribes carried
away into unknown countries ; and in the end the
abolition of both kingdoms, with the captivity of
the tribe of Judah, and the utter deftrudtion of the
city. It cannot be faid that thefe things were fuf-
fer'd under kings, and not from or by them : for the
defolation of the cities, people and country is in ma-
ny places of fcripture imputed to the kings that taught
Ifrael to fin, as appears by what was denounced
againft Jeroboam, Jehu, Ahaz, ManaflTeh, Zedekiah,
and others * . Nay the captivity of Babylon with

* 1 King, xiv, 2 King, ;;;d. 2 King, xx,

' ■ the

44 DISCOURSES Chap, 111.

the evils enfuine, were firft announced to Hezekiah
for his vanity -, and Jofiah by the hke, brought a
^reat llaughter upon himfelf and people. But if
miichiefs fell upon the people by the frailty of thefe^
who after David were the beft, pothing furely lefs
than the utmoft of all miferies could be exped:ed
from fuch as were fet to do evil, and to make the
nation like to themfelves, in which they met v/ith
too great fuccefs.

If it be pretended that God's people living under
an extraordinary difpenfation can be no example to
us, I defire other hiftories may be examined ; for I
confefs I know no nation fo great, happy and prof-
perous, nor any power fo well eftablifhed that two
or three ill kings immediately fucceeding each other,
have not been able to defliroy and bring to fuch a
condition, that it appeared the nations mufl perifli,
unlefs the fenates, diets, and other affemblies of
ftate had put a ftop to the mifchief, by reftraining
or depofmg them ; and tho' this might be proved
by innumerable teflimonies, I iliall content myfelf
with that of the Roman empire, which perifhed by
the vices, corruption, and bafenefs of their princes :
the noble kingdom of the Goths in Spain overthrown
by the tyranny of Witza and Rodrigo : the prefent
il:ate of Spain now languifhing and threatning ruin
from the lame caufes : France brought to the lalT:
degree of mifery and w^aknefs by the degenerate
races of Pharamond and Charles, preferved and
reilored by the virtues of Pepin and Capet ; to which
mav be added thofe -of our own country, which
are fo well kriown that I need not mention them.

SECT.

cc

cc

Sea. 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 45

SECT. VL

^Tis not good for fuch natiom as will have kingSy
tofuffer them to be glorious^ powerful or abounding
in riches,

OU R author having hitherto fpoken of all nati-
ons, as born under a neceffity of being fubjedt
to abfolute monarchy, which he pretends to have
been fet up by the univerfal and indifpenfible law
of God and nature, now feems to leave to their dis-
cretion, whether they will have a king or not; but
fays, that thofe '' who will have a king, are bound
" to allow him royal maintenance, by providing
" revenues for the crown ; fince it is for the honour,
profit and fafety of the people to have their king
glorious, powerful, and abounding in riches."
If there be any thing of fenfe in this claufe, there is
nothing of truth in the foundation or principle of his
whole book. For as the right and being of a father
is natural or inherent, and no ways depending upon
the will of the child ; that of a king is fo alfo, if he
be, and ought to enjoy the rights belonging to the
father of the people : and 'tis not lefs ridiculous to
fay, *' thofe who will have a king,'* than it would ,
be to fay, " he that v/ill have a father ;" for every
one mufl have one whether he will or not. But if
the king be a father, as our author from thence infers
that all laws are from him, none can be impofed
upon him ; and whatfoever the fubjedt enjoys is by
his conceffions : 'tis abfurd to fpeak of an obligation
lying upon the people to allow him royal m^ain-
tenance, by providing revenues, fince he has all in
himfelf, and they have nothing that is not from him,
•and depending upon his will. For this reafon a
v/orthy o;entieman of the houfe of commons in the

year

i2'

\

46 DISCOURSES Chap. lit

year 1640. deiired that the bufinefs of the judges,
who in the ftar-chamber had given for their opinion
concerning fhip-money, " that in cafes of necejfTity

the king might provide it by his own authority,

and that he was judge of that neceffity," might
be firft examined, that they might know whether
they had any thing to give, before they fhould fpeak
of giving. And as 'tis certain^ that if the fentence
of thofe perjur'd wretches had ftood, the fubjedts of
England by confequence v/ould have been found to
have nothing to give ; 'tis no lefs fure, that if our
author's principle concerning the paternal andabfolute
power of kings be true, it will by a more compen-
dious way appear, that it is not left to the choice of
any nation, whether they will have a king or not ;
for they muft have him, and can have nothing to
allow him, but muft receive all from him.

But if thofe only who will have a king, are bound
to have one, and to allow this royal maintenance,
fiich as will not have a king, are by one and the
iame adi delivered from the neceflity of having one,
and from providing maintenance for him ; which
utterly overthrows the magnificent fabric of pater-
nal monarchy -, and the kings who were lately re-
prcfented by our author, placed on the throne by
God and nature, and endow'd with an abfolute
power over all, appear to be purely the creatures of
the people, and to have nothing but what is receiv-
ed from tliem.

From hence it may be rationally inferred, that^he
who makes a thing to be, m^akes it to be only what
he pieafes. This aiufc hold in relation to kings as
well as other magiftrates ; and as they who made
confils, dict'otors, and military tribunes, gave them
only fuch power, and for fuch a time as beft pleafed

* Qui dat elTe, dat ii^.oduni effe.

themfelves.

Sea. 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 47

themfelves, 'tis impoffible they Aould not have the
fame right in relation to kings, in making them
what they pleafe, as well as not to make unlefs they
pleafe 5 except there be a charm belonging to the
name, or the letters that compofe it -, which cannot
belong to all nations, for they are different in every
one according to the feveral languages.

But, fays our author, 'tis " for the honour, pro-
" fit, and fafety of the people that the king fhould
*' be glorious, powerful, and abounding in riches."
There is therefore no obligation upon them, and
they are to judge whether it be fo or not. The
fcripture fays plainly the contrary : " He fliall not
'' multiply filver and gold, wives and horfes : he
*^ Ihall not lift up his heart above his brethren*."
He fhall not therefore be glorious, powerful, or
abounding in riches. Reafon and experience teach
us the fame thing : if thofe nations that have been
proud, luxurious and vicious, have defired by pomp
and riches to foment the vices of their princes, there-
by to cherifh their ov/n 5 fuch as have excelled in
virtue and good difcipline have abhorred it, and ex-
cept the immediate exercife of their office have kept
their fupreme magiftrates to a manner of living little
different from that of private men : and it had been
impoffible to maintain that frugality, in which the
integrity of their manners did chiefly confift, if
they had fet up an example diredlly contrary to it,
in him who v/as to be an example to others 3 or to
provide for their own fafety, if they had overthrown
that integrity of manners by which it could only be
obtained and preferved. There is a neceflky incum-
bent upon every nation that lives in the like prin-
ciple, to put a flop to the entrance of thofe vices
that arife from the fuperfluity of riches, by keeping

* Deut xvii.

their

48 DISCOURSES Chap. HI.

their kings in that honeft poverty, which is the
mother and nurfe of modefty, fobriety and all man-
ner of virtue : and no man can deny this to be well
done, unlefs he will affirm that pride, luxury and
vice is more profitable to a nation than the virtues
that are upheld by frugality.

There is another reafon of no lefs importance to
thofe nations, v/ho tho' they think fit to have
kings, yet defire to preferve their liberty, which ob-
liges them to fet limits to the glory, power and
riches of their kings ; and that is, that they can no
otherwife be kept v/ithin the rules of the law. Men
are naturally propenfe to corruption ; and if he
whofe will and intereft it is to corrupt them, be fur-
nished with the means, he will never fail to do it.
Pov/er, honours, riches, and the pleafures that at-
tend them, are the baits by which men are drawn
to prefer a perfonal intereft before the public good ;
and-the number of thofe v/ho covet them is fo great,
that he who abounds in them will be able to gain fo
many to his fervice as fhall be fufficient to fubdue
the reft. 'Tis hard to find a tyranny in the world
that has not been introduced this v/ay ; for no man
bv his own ftrensith could ever fubdue a multitude :
none could ever bring many to be fubfervient to his
ill defigns, but by the rewards they received or hoped.
By this means Csfar accompHihed his work, and
overthrew the liberty of his countr}^, and with it
all that was then good in the world. They who
were corrupted in their m^inds, defired to put all the
power and riches into his hands, that he might dif-
tribute them to fuch as ferved him. And he who
was nothing lefs than covetous in his own nature,
defired riclies, that he might gain followers ; and
by the plunder. of Gaul he corrupted thofe that be-
tray'd Ro;aie to him. And tho' I do not delight to
4 fpeak

Sea. 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 49

peak of the affairs of our own time, I defire thof^
who know the prefent ftate of France to tell me,
whether it were poflible for the king to keep that
nation under fervitude, if a vaft revenue did not en-
able him to gain fo many to his particular fervice as
are fufficient to keep the reft in fubjedlion : and if
this be not enough, let them confider whether all
the dangers that now threaten us at home, do not
proceed from the madnefs of thofc who gave fuch
a revenue, as is utterly unproportionable to the
riches of the nation, unfuitable to the modefl beha-
viour expelled from our kings, and which in time
will render parliaments unneceffary to them.

On the other hand, the poverty and iimplicity of
the Spartan kings was no lefs fafe and profitable to
the people, than truly glorious to them. Agefilaus
denied that Artaxerxes was greater than he, unlefs
he were more temperate or more valiant ; and he
made good his words fo well, that without any
other afliftance than what his wifdom and valour
did afford, he ifruck fuch a terror into that great,
rich, powerful and abfolute monarch, that he did
not think himfelf fafe in Babylon or Ecbatan, till
the poor Spartan was, by a captain of as great valour,
and greater poverty, obliged to return from Afia to
the defence of his ovv^n country. This was not pe-
culiar to the fevere Laconic difcipline. When the
Roman kings were expelled, a few carts were pre-
pared to tranfport their goods : and their lands which
were confecrated to Mars, . and now go under the
name of Campus Martins, hardly contain ten acres
of ground. Nay the kings of Ifrael, who led fuch
vafl armies into the field (that is, w^re followed by
all the people who v/ere able to bcdr arms) feem to
have poffeffed iittle. Ahab, one of the moil power-
ful, was fo fond of Naboth's vineyard (vv hich being

Vol, IL . E ' the

50 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

the inheritance of his fathers, according to their
equal divifion of lands, could not be above two acres)
that he grew fick when it was refufed.

But if an allowance be to be made to every king,
it mult be either according to an univerfal rule or
ilandard, or mull: depend upon the judgment of
nations. If the firf!:, they who have it, may do
well to produce it ; if the other, every nation pro-
ceeding according to the meafure of their own dif-
cretion, is free from blame.

It may alfo be worth obfervation, whether the
revenue given to a king be in fuch manner com-
mitted to his care, that he is obliged to employ it
for the public fervice without the power of aliena-
tion ; or whether it be granted as a propriety, to be
fpent as he thinks fit. When fome of the antient
Jews and Chriftians fcrupled the payment of tribute
to the emperors, the reafons alledged to perfuade
them to a compliance, feem to be grounded upon a
fuppofition of the hrft : for, faid they, the defence
of the Hate lies upon them, which cannot be per-
form'd without armies and garifons 3 thefe cannot
be maintained without pay, nor money raifed to
pay them without tributes and cuftoms. This carries
a face of reafon vvith it, efpecially in thofe countries
which are perpetually or frequently fubjeft to inva=-
fions ; but this will not content our author. He
Tpeaks of employing the revenue in keeping his
houie, and looks upon it as a propriety to be fpent
a^ he thinks convenient ; which is no lefs than to
caii it into a pit, of which no man ever knew th©
.bottom. That which is given in one day, is fquan-
dred away the next : the people is always opprefs'd
with impofitions, to foment the vices of the court :
thefe daily increaling, they grow infitiable, and the
mikrable nations are compelled to hard labour in

I order

Sea, 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 51

order to fatiate thofe lufts that tend to their own

ruin.

It may be confider'd that the virtuous * Pagans,
by the light of nature, difcovered the truth of this.
Poverty grew odious in Rome, when great men by
defiring riches put a value upon them, and introduc-
ed that pomp and luxury which could not be borne
by men of fmall fortunes. From thence all furies and
mifchiefs feem'd to break loofe : the bafe, flavifli, and
fo often fubdued Aira, by the bafeft of men revenged
the defeats they had received from the braveft ; and
by infufing into them a delight in pomp and luxury,
in a ihort time rendred the ftrongeft and braveft of
nations the weakeft and bafeft. I wifh our own
experience did not too plainly manifeft, that thefe
evils were never more prevalent than in our days,
when the luxury, majeftic pom.p, and abfolute
power of a neighbouring king muft be fupported by
an abundance of riches torn out of the bowels of
his fubjeds, which renders them, in the bell coun-
try of the Vv^orld, and at a time when the crown
moft flourifhes, the pooreft and miojft miferable of
all the nations under the fun. We too well know
who are moft apt to learn from them, and by what
means and fteps they endeavour to lead us into the
like mifery. But the bird is fafe when the fnare is
difcover'd ; and if we are not abandoned by God to
deftru6tion, v/e ftiall never be brought to confent to
the fettling of that pomp, which is againft the prac-
tice of all virtuous people, and has brought all the
nations that have been taken with it into the ruia
that is intended for us.

* ^sevior armis

Luxuria incabuit, viilumque ulcifcitur crbem.
Nullum crimen abeft, facinufque lib'dinib, ex quo
Paapertas Romana perit. Ju^jenal. Sat. 6. 292.

E 2 SECT.

-■''t>

<c
cc
cc
cc
<c
<c

52 DISCOURSES Chap. IH,

SECT. VII.

PFhcn the liraelites {ijkcdfor fuch a king as the nations
about them bad, they ajkedjor a tyrant y thd they
did not call him Jo.

O W that Saul was no tyrant," fays our
author, " note, that the people afked a
king as all nations had : God anfwers, and bids
'' Samuel to hear the voice of the people in all things
which they fpake, and appoint them a king.
They did not alk a tyrant ; and to give them a
tyrant when they afked a king, had not been to
hear their voice in all things, but rather when they
afked an egg to have given them a fcorpion 5
unlefs we will fey that all nations had tyrants."
But before he drew fuch a conclufion, he fliould
have obferved, that God did not give them a fcorpion
when they afked an egg, but told them that was a
fcorpion which they called an egg: they would have
a king to judge them, to go out before them, and
to fight their battels : but God in effedt told them
Jie would overthrow all juftice, and turn the power
that was given him, to the ruin of them and their
pofterity. But iince they would have it fo, he com-
manded Samuel to hearken to their voice, and for
the punifhment of their fin and folly, to give them
fuch a king as they aik.ed, that is, one who would
turn to his own profit and their mifery, the power
with which he fhould be entrufted y and this truly
denominates a tyrant. Ariftotle makes no other
diftintflion between a king and a tyrant, than that the
king governs for the good of the people, the tyrant
for his own pleafure and profit : and they who afked
fuch a one, afked a tyrant, tho' they called him a
king. This is all could be done in their language :

for

Sea. 7. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 53

for as they who are ikilled in the oriental tongues
affure me, there is no name for a tyrant In any
of them, or any otlier way of expreffing the
thin^^ than by circumlocution, and adding proud,
infolent, luftful, cruel, violent, or the like
epithets, to the word lord, or king. They did in
effedl afk a tyrant : they would not have fuch a
king as God had ordain'd, but fuch a one as the nati-
ons had. Not that all nations had tyrants; but thofe
who were round about them, of whom they had
knowledge, and which in their manner of fpeaking
went under the name of all, were blelTed with fuch
mafters. This way of expreffion was ufed by Lot's
daughters, who faid, there was not a man in all the
earth to come in to them ; becaufe there was none
in the neighbourhood, with whom it was thought
fit they fhould accompany. Now, that the eaflern
nations were then, and are ftill under the govern-
ment of thofe which all free people call tyrants, is
evident to all men. God therefore in giving them a
tyrant, or rather a government that would turn into
tyranny, gave them what they ajfked under another
name; and without any blemidi to the mercy promif-
ed to their fathers, fuffered them to bear the penalty
of their wickednefs and foily in rejed:ing him that
he fhould not reign over them.

But tho' the name of tyrant was unknown to them,
yet in Greece, from whence the word comes, it
fignified no more than one who governed according
to his own will, diftinguiflied from kings that go-
verned by lav/ ; and was not taken in an ill fenfe,
till thofe who had been advanced for their iuftice,
wifdom and valour, or their defcendants, were found
to depart from the ends of their inflitution, and to
turn that power to the opprefTion of the people,
which had been given for their protedion : but by

E 3 thefe

54 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

thefe means it grew odious, and that kind of govern-
ment came to be thought only tolerable by the bafeft
of men; and thofe who deftroy'd it, were in all places
efteemed to be the beft.

If monarchy had been univerfally evil, God had
not in the i7tli of Deuteronomy given leave to tl>e
Ifraelites to fet up a king; and if that kind of king
'had been afked, he had not been difpleafed : and
they could not have been faid to re]ed: God, if they
had not aflied that which was evil ; for nothing that
is good is contrary, or inconfiftent with a peoples
obedience to him. The monarchy they afked was
difpleafmg to God, it w^as therefore evil. But a tyrant
is no more than an evil or corrupted monarch : the
king therefore that they demanded was a tyrant : God
in granting one who would prove a tyrant, gave
them what they afked -, and that they might know
what they did, and what he would be, he told them
they rejedted him, and fhould cry by realbn of the
king they defired.

This denotes him to be a tyrant: for as the govern-
ment of a king ought to be gentle and eafy, tending
to the good of the people, refembling the tender
care of a father to his family ; if he who is fet up
to be a king, and to be like to that father, do lay a
tieavy yoke upon the people, and ufe them as flaves
and not as children, he muft renounce all refem-^
blance of a father, and be accounted an enemy.
*^ But," fays our author, " v\^hereas the peoples
crying argues fom^e tyrannical oppreflion, we may
remember that the peoples cries are not always an
^^ ar2:ument of their livini^ under a tvrant. No man
^' will fay Solomon was a tyrant, yet all the congre-
^^ gation complained that Solomon made their yoke
*^ grievous." 'Tis ftrange, that v/hen children^ nay
v/hcn w^helps cry^ it ihould be accounted ^ mark

that

Seft. 7. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. ^ 55

that they are troubled, and that the cry of the whole
people fliould be none : or that the government
which is ered:ed for their eafe, fliould not be efleemed
tyrannical if it prove grievous to thofe it fliould re-
lieve. But as 1 know no example of a people that
did generally complain without caufe, our adveiiaries
muft alledge fome other than that of Solomon,
before I believe it of any. We are to fpeak reverently
of him : he was excellent in wifdom ; he built the
temple, and God appeared tv^ice to him : but it
muft be confefs'd, that during a great part of his
life he a6ted diredtly contrary to the law given by
God to kings, and that his ways were evil and op-
preffive to the people, if thofe of God were good.
Kings were forbidden to multiply horfes, wives,
filver and gold : but he brought together more filver
and gold, and provided more horfes, wives and con-
cubines than any man is known to have had : and
tho' he did not adiually return to Egypt, yet he in-
troduced their abominable idolatry, and fo far raifed
his heart above his brethren, that he made them fub-
fervient to his pomp and glory. The people might
probably be pleafed with a great part of this ; but
when the yoke became grievous^ and his foolifh fon
would not render it more eafy, they threw it off;
and the thing being from the Lord, it was good, unlefs
he be evil.

But as juft governments are eflabliilied for the good
of the governed, and the Ifraelites defir'd a king,
that it might be well with them, not with him,
who was not yet known to them; that which exalts
one to the prejudice of thofe that made him, muft
always be evil, and the people that fuffers the pre-
judice muft needs know it better than any other. He
that denies this, may think the ftate of France might
have been beft known from Bulion the late treafurer,

E 4 who

^6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

who finding Lewis the thirteenth to be troubled at
the peoples mifery, told him they were too happy,
lincethey were not reduced to eat grafs. But if words
are to beunderfloodastheyare ordinarily ufed, and we
have no other than that of tyranny to exprefs a mo-
narchy that is either evil in the inftitution, or fallen
into corruption, we may juftly call that tyranny
which the fcripture calls a grievous yoke, and which
neither the old nor the new counfellors of Rehoboam
could deny to be fo : for tho' the firfl: advifed him
to promife amendment, and the others to do worfe,
yet all agreed that what the people faid was true.

This yoke is always odious to fuch as are not by
natural ftupidity and bafenefs fitted for it ; but thofe
who are fo, never complain. An afs will bear a
multitude of blows patiently, but the lead of them
drives a lion into rage. Fie that faid, the rod is
made for the back of fools, confefied that opprefilon
will make a wife man mad. And the moft unnatu-
ral of all opprefiions is to ufe lions like afies, and
to lay that yoke upon a generous nat'on, which only
the bafeft can deferve^ and for want of a better word
wc call this tyranny.

Our author is not contented to vindicate Solomon
only, but extends his indulgence to Saul. His cufiom
is to patronize all that is deteitable, and no better
teftimony could be given of it. " It is true, fays he,
^' Saul loft his kingdom, but not for being too cruel
^' or tyrannical unto his fubjeds, but for being too
^' merciful unto his enemies :" but he alledges no
other reafon, than that the flaughter of the priefis
is not blamed ; not obferving that the writers of the
fcripture in relating thofe things that are known to
be abominable by the light of nature, frequently
fay no more of them : and if this be not fo, Lot's
drunkennefs and inceft, Reuben s pollution of his

father's

Sea. 7. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. ^^

father's bed, Abimelech's flaughter of his feventy
brothers, and many of the moft wicked ads that
ever were committed, may pafs for laudable and in-
nocent. But if Saul were not to be blamed for kill-
ing the priefts, why was David blamed for the death
of * Uriah ? Why v/ere the dogs to lick the
blood of Ahab and Jezebel, if they did nothing
more than kings might do without blame ? Now if
the flaughter of one man was fo feverely aveno-ed
upon the authors and their families, none but fuch
as Filmer can think that of fo many innocent men
with their wives and children, could efcape unrc-
proved or unpunished. But the whole feries of the
hiftory of Saul ihewing evidently that his life and
reign were full of the moft violent cruelty and mad-
nefs, we are to feek no other reafon for the ruin
threatned and brought upon him and his family.
And as thofe princes who are m.oft barbaroufly
favage againft their own people, are ufually moft
gentle to the enemies of their country, he could not
give a more certain teftimony of his hatred to thofe
he ought to have protedled, than by prefervino- thofe
nations, who were their moft irreconcileable enemies.
This is proved by reafon as w^ell as by experience ;
for every man knows he cannot bear the hatred of
all mankind : fuch as know they have enemies
abroad, endeavour to get friends at home : thofe
who command powerful nations, and are beloved
by them, fear not to offend ftrangers. But if they
have rendred their own people enemies to them,
they cannot hope for help in a time of diftrefs, nor
fo much as a place of retreat or refuge, unlefs from
ftrangers, nor from them unlefs they deferve it, by
favouring them to the prejudice of their own coun-

* Thou haft killed Uriah with the fword of the children of /m-
jnon : now therefore the fword ihali n^ver depart from thy houfe.

2 Bam. xii.

try.

58 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

try. As no man can ferve two mafters, no man
can purfue two contrary interefts : Mofes, Jofliua,
Gideon and Samuel, were fevere to the Amorites,
Midianites and Canaanites, but mild and gentle to
the Hebrews. Saul, who was cruel to the Hebrews,
fpared the Amalekites, whofe prefervation was their
deftrudtion : and whilil he deftroyed thofe he fhould
have faved, and faved thofe that by a general and
particular command of God he fhould have deflroy-
ed, he lofl his ill-govern d kingdom, and left an ex-
ample to pofterity of the end that may be expeGed
from pride, folly and tyranny.

The matter would not be much alter'd, if I fliould
confefs, that in the time of Saul all nations were
governed by tyrants (tho' it is not true, for Greece
did then flourifli in liberty, and we have reafon to
believe that other nations did fo alfo) for tho' they
might not think of a good government ^t the firft,
nothing can oblige men to continue under one that
is bad, when they difcover the evils of it, and know
how to mend it. They who trufted men that ap-
peared to have great virtues, with fuch a power as
might ealily be turned into tyranny, might juftly
retract, limit or abolifli it, when they found it to be
abufed. And tho' no condition had been referved,
the public good, which is the end of all * govern-
ment, had been fafficient to abrogate all that fliould
tend to the contrary. As the malice of men and
their inventions to do mifchief increafe dailv, all
would foon be brought under the power of the
worft, if care were not taken, and opportunities em-
braced to find nevv ways of preventing it. He that
fhould make war at this day as the befl command-
ers did two liundred years pafl, would be beaten by
the meanefl foldier. The places then accounted im-

* Saks populi fapremalex.

pregnable

Std:. 7. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 59

pregnable are now flighted as indefenfible ;' and if ■
the arts of defending were not improved as well as
thofe of affaulting, none would be able to hold out
a day. Men were fent into the world rude and ig-
norant, and if they might not have ufed their na-
tural faculties to find out that which is good for
themfelves, all muft have been condemn'd to con-
tinue in the ignorance of our firfl fathers, and to
make no ufe of their underltanding to the ends for
which it was given.

The beflial barbarity in which many nations/'
efpecially of Africa, America and Afia, do now live,
fhews what human nature is, if it be not improved
by art and difcipline -, and if the firft errors, com-
mitted through ignorance, might not be correfled,
all would be obliged to continue in them, and for
any thing I know, we mufl return to the religion,
manners and policy that were found in our country
at Csefar's landing. To affirm this is no lefs than
to deftroy all that is commendable in the world,
and to render the underflanding given to men utterly
ufelefs. But if it be lawful for us by the ufe of
that underflanding to build houfes, fhips and forts
better than our anceftors, to make fuch arms as are
mofl fit for our defence, and to invent printing, with
an infinite num.ber of other arts beneficial to man-
kind, why have w^e not the fame right in matters of
government, upon which all others do almofl abfo-
lutely depend ? If m.en are not obliged to live in
caves and hollow trees^ to eat acorns, and to go nak-
ed, why (hould they be for ever obliged to conti-
nue under the fame form of government that their
anceftors happened to fet up in the time of their
ignorance ? Or if they were not fo ignorant to fet
up one that was not good enough for the age in
which tbey lived, why fliould it not be altered,

v^hen

6o DISCOURSES Chap. III.

when tricks are found out to turn that to the preju-
dice of nations, which was ered:ed for their good ?
From whence fhould malice and wickednefs gain a
privilege of putting new inventions to do mifchief
every day in pradlice ? and who is it that fo far pro-
ted:s them, as to forbid good and innocent men to
find new ways alfo of defending themfelves from it?
If there be any that do this, they muft be fuch as
live in the fame principle ; who whiift they pretend
to exercife juftice, provide only for the indemnity
of their own crimes, and the advancement of un-
juft defigns. They would have a right of attacking
us with all the advantages of the arms now in ufe,
and the aits which by the praftice of fo many ages
have been wonderfully refined, whiift we fliould be
obliged to imploy no others in our juft defence, than
fuch as were known to our naked anceftors when
CsBfar invaded them, or to the Indians when they
fell under the dominion of the Spaniards. This
would be a compendious way of placing uncon-
trol'd iniquity in all the kingdoms of the world,
and to overthrow all that deferves the name of good
by the introdudion of fuch accurfed maxims. But
if no man dares to acknowledge any fuch, except
thofe whofe acknowledgement is a difcredit, we
ought not to fuffer them to be obliquely obtruded
upon us, nor to think that God has fo far abandon-
ed us into the hands of our enemies, as not to leave
us the liberty of ufing the fame arms in our defence
as they do to offend and injure us.

We iliall be told, that prayers and tears were the
only arms of the firft Chriftians, and that Chrift
commanded his difciples to pray for thofe that per-
fecuted them : but befides that thofe precepts of the
moft extreme lenity do ill fuit with the violent prac-
tices of thofe who attempt to enflave nations, and

whg

Sta. 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 6i

who by alledging them do plainly fliew either that
they do not extend to all Chriftians, or that they
themielves are none vvhilft they ad: contrary to them,
they are to know, that thofe precepts wxre merely
temporary, and direded to the perfons of the apoflles,
who were armed only with the fword of the fpirit ;
that the primitive Chriftians ufed prayers and tears only
no longer than whilft they had no other arms. But
knowing that by lifting themfelves under the eniigns
of Chriftianicy they had not loft the rights belong-
ing to all mankind, when nations came to be con-
verted, they no way thought themfelves obliged to
give their enemies a certain opportunity of deftroy-
ing them, when God had put means into their hands
of defending themfelves ; and proceeded fo far in this
way, that the Chriftian* valour foon became no lefs
famous and remarkable than that of the Pagans.
They did with the utmoft vigour defend both their
civil and religious rights againft all the powers of
earth and hell, who by force and fraud endeavoured
to deftroy them.

SECT. VIII.

Under the name of tribute no more is imderjlood than
what the law of each 7iatio?i gives to the fiipr erne
magijlrate for the defray'mg of public charges ;
to which the eujloim of the Romans^ or fu£eri?igs
of the Jews have no relation.

*' T F anydefire the diredtionsof thenewteftament,'*
\^ fays our author," ^^ he may find out Saviour
limiting and diftinguifhing royal power, by
giving to C^far thofe things that are Caefar's, and to
God the things that are God's." But that will be
of no advantage to him in this conteft. We do not
deny to any man that which is his due ; but do not

lo

62 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

fo well know who is C^lar, nor what it is that can
truly be faid to be due to him. I grant that when
thofe words were fpoken, the power of the Romans
exercifed by Tiberius was then expreffed by the name
of Caefar, which he without any title had alTumed.
The Jews amongft many other nations having been
fubdued, fubmitted to it; and being no way compe-
tent judges of the rights belonging to the fenate or
people of Rome, were obliged to acknowledge that
power which their mafters were under. They had
no commonwealth of their own, nor any other go-
vernment amongft themfelves, that was not precari-
ous. They thought Chrift was to have reftored their
kingdom, and by them to have reigned over the
nations ; but he fhewed them>they were to be fubjeft
to the Gentiles and that within few years their city
and temple fhould be deftroy'd. Their common-
wealth muft needs expire when all that was prefigured
by it was accompliflied. It was not for them at
fuch a time to prefume upon their abrogated pri-
vileges, nor the promifes made to them, which were
then fulfilled. Nay, they had by their fins profaned
themfelves, and given to the Gentiles a right over
them, which none could have had, if they had con-
tinued in their obedience to the law of God. This
was the foundation of the Csfars dominion over
them, but can have no influence upon us. ' The firfl
of the Csfars had not been fet up by them : the fe-
rie^ of them had not been continued by their confent ;
they had not interrupted the fuccefiion by placing'
or difplacing fuch as they pleafed : they had not
brought in ftrangers or baftards, nor preferred
the remoteft in blood before the nearell: they
had no part in making the laws by which they
v/ere governed, nor had the C^fars fworn to them :
tliey had no great cliarter acknowledging their li-
berties

Sea. 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 63

berties to be innate or inherent in them, confirmed
by immemorial cuftom, and ftrengthen'd by thirty
ads of their own general affemblies, with the affent
of the Romans: the Csefar who then governed came
not to the power by their confent : the queftion,
" will ye have this man to reign ?" had never been
afked; but he being impofed upon them, they were
to fubmit to the laws by which he governed their
mailers. This can be nothing to us, whofe cafe is
in every refpedl moft unlike to theirs. We have no
diftatorian power over us ; and neither we nor our
fathers have render d or owed obedience to any hu-
man laws but our own, nor to any other magiftracy
than what we have eftabliflied. We have a king
who reigns by law. His power Is from the * " law
*' that makes him king :" and we can know only
from thence what he is to command, and what we
are obliged to obey. We know the power of the
Casfars was ufurped, maintained and exercifed with
the moft deteftable violence, injuftice and cruelty.
But tho' it had been eftablifhed by the confent of the
Romans from an opinion that it was good for them
in that ftate of affairs, it were nothing to us : and we
could be no more obliged to follow their example
in that, than to be governed by confuls, tribunes, and
decemviri, or to conftitute fuch a government as
they fet up when they expelled their kings. Their
authority was as good at one time as at the other ; or
if a difference ought to be made, the preference is
to be given to what they did when their m.anners
were moft pure, the people moft free, and when
virtue v/as moft flourifliing am^ong them. But if
v/e are not obliged to fet up fach a magiftracy as they
had, 'tis ridiculous to think that fuch an obedience
is due to one who is not in being as they paid to him

* Lex facit ut lit rex. BraSIon.

that

64. DISCOURSES Chap. III.

that was. And if I fhould confefs that Csfar hold-
ing the fenate and people of Roncie under the power
of the fword, impofed what tribute he pleafed up-
on the provinces ; and that the Jews, who had no
part in the government, were obliged to fubmit to
his will, our liberty of paying nothing, except what
tlie parliament appoints, and yielding obedience to
no laws but fuch as are made to be fo by their au-
thority, or by our own immemorial cuftoms, could
not be thereby infringed. But we may juflly affirm,
thatthetribute impofed was not, as our author infers,
*^ all their coin," nor a conliderable part of it, nor
more than what was underftood to go for the defray-
ing of the public charges. Chrift by alking v/hofe
image and fuperfcr iption was ftampt upon their money,
and thereupon commanding them to give to Caefar
that which was Csefar's, did not imply that all was
his ; but that Caefar's money being current amongft
them, it was a continual and evident teftimony, that
they acknowledged themielves to be under his jurif-
didlion, and therefore could not refufe to pay the
tribute laid upon them by the fame authority, as other
nations did.

It may alfo be obferved, that Chrift did not fo
much fay this to determine the queftions that
might arife concerning Caefar's power : for he plainly
fays, that was not his work ; but to put the Phari-
fees to filence who tempted him. According to the
opinion of the Jews, that the Meffias would reftore
the kingdom of Ifrael, they thought his firft work
would be to throw off* the Roman yoke ; and not
believing him to be the man, they would have
brought him to avow the thing, that they might
deftroy him. But as that was not his bufinefs, and
that his time was not yet come, it was not neceflary
to give them any other anfwer, than fuch as might
I difappoint

Sed.S. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 6^

difappoint their purpofe. This fliews that, without
detracting from the honour due to Auftin, Ambrofe
or Tertullian, I may juilly fay, that the decifion
of fuch queftions as arife concerning our governm.ent
muft be decided by our laws, and not by their writ-
ings. They were excellent men, but living in another
time, under a very different government, and ap-
plying themfelves to other matters, they had no
knowledge at all of thole that concern us. They
knew what government they were under, and there-
upon judged what a broken and difperfed people
ow'd to that which had given law to the beft part
of the world before they were in being, under
tvhich they had been educated, and which alter a
moft cruel perfecution was become propitious to
them. They knew that the word of the emperor
was a law to the fenate and people, v/ho were under
the power of that man that could get the beil armiy ;
but perhaps had never heard of fuch mixed govern-
ments as ours, tho' about that time they began to
appear in the world. And it might be as reafon-
ably concluded, that there ought to be no rule in
the fucceilion or eledion of princes, becaufe the
Roman emperors were (tt up by the violence of the
foldiers, and for the moil part by the ilaughter of
him A^'ho was in poffeflion of the power, as that all
other princes muft be abfolute when they have it,
and do what they pleafe, till another more ftrong
and more happy, may by the like means vv^reft the
fame power from them.

I am much miftaken if this be not true ; but
without prejudice to our caufe, we may take that
which they fay, according to their true miCaning,
in the utmoft extent. And to begin with Ter-
tullian : 'tis good to confider the fut.jedl of his dif-
courfe, and to whom he wTote. The treatife cited

Vol. II. F uy

66 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

by our author is the Apologetic, and tends to per-
faade the Pagans, that civil magiftrates might not
intermeddle with religion ; and that the laws made
by them touching thoie matters, were of no value,
as relating to things of which they had no cog-
nifance, " * 'Tis not, fays he, length of time,
nor the dignity of the legiflators, but equity only
that can commend laws • and when any are found
to be unjuft, they are defervedly condemned." By
which words he denied that the magiftratical power
which the Romans acknowledged in C^far, had any
thing to do in fpiritual things. And little advantage
can be taken by Chriftian princes from what he fays
concerning the Roman emperors -, for he exprefly
declares, " •+- That the C^efars would have believed
*' in Chrift, if they had either not been neceffary
^^ to the fecular government, or that Chriftians
" might have been Casfars." This feems to have pro-
ceeded from an opinion received by Chriftians in the
firft ages, that the ufe of the civil as well as the mi-
litary fword was equally accurfed : that '' Chriftians
were to be J fons of peace, enemies to no man 3 and
that Chrifi: by commanding Peter to put up his
fword, did for ever difarm all Chriftians." He
proceeds to fay, '' || We cannot fight to defend our
" goods, having in our baptifm renounced the worlds
'^ and all that is in it -, nor to gain honours, account-
'^ ing nothing more foreign to us than public affairs,
*' and acknowledging no other commonwealth than

* Le2;c;s non annorum numerns, nee conditorum dipjiltas, fed fola
zeijuirivs commendat, atque ideo fi iniqu^ cognolcunLur mcrlto dam-
iianiur. Tertv.L Jp.

f Sed Si CaTares fuper Chrlfto credidiiTcnt, fi ant Carfares non
effent fajculo n-tceiiarii, aut Chriltiani potuifieRt elTc Lxfares, Ibid.

X Filii pacis, nallius hoftcs ; & Chriflus exarmando Petrum, om-
nem Chriihanum milltem in asternum defcinxit. Ibid.

|{ Nobis omnis glorisc Sc dignitatis ardore frigentibas, &c. Nee
alia res elt nobis magis aliens quanr; publica : unam nobis rempubli-
cam mundum agiiolcinius.

'' that

cc
f,i.

cc

Sea. 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 67

" that of the whole world ;" nor to fave our lives,
becaufe we account it a happinefs to be killed. He
difluades the Pagans from executing Chriftians,
rather from charity to them in keeping them from
the crime of flau^hterins; the innocent, than that
they were unwilling to fuffer : and gives no other
reafons of their prayers for the emperors, than that
they were commanded to love their enemies, and to
pray for thofe who perfecuted them, except fuch as
he drew from a miftake, that the world was fhor dy
to finifh with the diflblution of the empire. Ail
his works, as well thofe that were written before
he fell into Montanifm, as thofe publifhed after-
wards, are full of the IIkc opinions ; and if Filmer
acknowledges them to be true, he mufi: confefs^
that princes are not fathers, but * enemies : and not
only they, but all thofe who render themfelves mi-
nifters of the powders they execute, in taking upon
them the fword that Chrift had curfed, do renounce
him ; and we may conlider how to proceed with
fuch as do fo. If our author will not acknowledge
this, then no man was ever guilty of a more vile
prevarication than he, who alledges thofe words in
favour of his caufe, which have their only ftrength
in opinions that he thinks falfe, and in the authority
of a man whom in that very thing he condemns ;
and muft do fo, or overthrow all that he endeavours
to fupport. But TertuUian's opinions concerning
thefe matters have no relation to our prefciU qucftion.
The defign of his apology, and the trealife to Sca-
pula almoft upon the fame fubjedl, was to ihow,
that the civil magiftracy which he comprehends un-
der the name of Ca?far, had noching to do with
matters of religion ,; and that, as no man could be

* Qai enim magis iiiimici ChrilVianorum, quiim do c^uoram majer-
tate conveni.T.ur in crim.<a;, Tertul. jh.

F 2 - a

6S DISCOURSES Chap. Ill

a Chriftlan who would undertake the work of a
magiflrate, they who were jealous the public offices
might be taken out of their hands, had nothing to
fear from Chriilians who refolved not to meddle
with them. Whereas our queftion is only, whether
that magiftratical power, which by law or ufurpa-
tion was then in Csefar, muft neceffarily in all times,
and in all places, be in one man, or may be divided
and balanced according to the laws of every country,
concerning which he fays nothing : or whether we,
who do not renounce the ufe of the civil or military
fword, who have a part in the government, and
thin it our duty to apply ourfelves to public cares,
fliould lay them alide becaufe the antient Chriftians
every hour expelling death, did not trouble them-
felves with them.

If Ambrofe after he was a bifl^iop, employed the
ferocity of a foldier which he ftill retained, rather
in advancing the power of the clergy, than the good
of mankind by reflraining the rage of tyrants, it
can be no prejudice to our caufe, of which he had
no cognifance. He fpokeof the violent and defpo-
tical government, to which he had been a minifter
before his baptifm, and feems to have had no know-
ledge of the Gothic polity, that v/ithin a few years
erew famous by the overthrow of the Roman tyran-
ny, and delivering the world from the yoke which
it could no longer bear. And if Auftin might fay,
that '' the emperor is fubjed: to no laws, becaufe he
" has a power of making laws," I may as juflly
fay, that our kings are fubjedl to laws becaufe they
can make no law^ and have no power but what is
given by the laws. If this be not the cafe, I deiire
to know who made the laws, to which they and
their predeceflbrs have fworn ; and whether they
can according to their pwn will abrogate, thofe an-
tient

Sea. S. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 6g

tient laws by which they are made to be. what they
are, and by which we enjoy what wc have ; or
whether they can make new laws by their own
power ? If no man but our author have impudence
enough to affert any fuch thing ; and if all the kings
we ever had, except Richard the fecond, did re-
nounce it, v/e may conclude that Auftin's words have
no relation to our difpute ; and that 'twere to no
purpofe to examine, whether the fathers mention .^
any refervation of power to the laws of the land^
or to the people, it being as lawful for all nations,
if they think fit, to frame governments different
from thofe that w^re then in being, as to build
baftionSj halfmoons, hornworks, ravelins or counter-?
fcarps, or to make ufe of muilcets, cannon, mor-
tars, carabines or piilols which were unknown to
them.

What Solomon fays of the Hebrew kings, does as
little concern us. We have already proved their
power not to have been abfolute, tho' greater than
that which the law allows to ours. It might upon
occafion be a prudent advice to private perfons living
under fuch governments as were ufual in eaflern
countries, " to keep the king's commandments,
'' and not to fay, what doft thou ? becaufe where tb.e
*' word of a king is, there is power, and all that he
^*^ pleafeth he will do." But allthefe words are not
his j and ihofe that are, muft not be taken in a general
fenfe ^ for tho' his fon was a king, yet in his words
there v/as no power: he could not do what he pleafed,
nor hinder others from doing what they pleafed : he
would have added weight to the yoke that lay upon
the necks of the Ifraeiites, but he could not; and
we do not find him to have been marter of much
more than his own tongue, to fpeak as many foolifli
things as he pleafed. Jn other things, whether he ^

F 3 had

7© DISCOURSES Chap. III.

had to deal with his own people, or with ftrangcrs,
he was weak and impotent 5 and the wretches who
flatter'd him in his follies, could be of no help to
him. The like has befallen many others : thofe who
are wife, virtuous, valiant, juft and lovers of their
people, have and ought to have power ; but fuch as
are lewd, vicious, fooliih. and haters of their people,
ought to have none, and are often deprived of all.
This was well known to Solomon, who fays, that
*' a wife child is better than an old and foolilh 1 ing
*^ that will not be advifed/' When Nabuchodono-
for fet himfelf in the place of God, his kingdom was
taken from him, and he was driven from the fociety
of mtn to herd v/ith beafts. There was power for
a time in the word of Nero : he murdered many
excellent men ; but he was call'd to account, and
the world abandoned the monfter it had too long
endur'd. He found none to defend him, nor any
better help when he deiir'd to die, than the hand of
a flave Befides this, feme kings by their inftitution
have little power ; fome have been deprived of what
they had, for abufing, or rendring themfelves un-
worthy of it ; and hiftories afford us innumerable
examples of both forts.

But tho' I ihould confefs that there is always power
in the word of a king, it would be nothing to us who
difpute concerning right, and have no regard to that
power which is void of it. A thief or a pirate may
have power- but that avails him not, when, as often
befel the Csfars, he meets with one who has more,
and is always unfafe, lince having no efFed: upon
the confciences of men, every one may deftroy him
that can : and I leave it to kings to confider how
much they ftand obliged to thofe, who pacing their
rights upon the fam.e foot, expofe their perfons to
the fame dangers.

But

Sta. S. CONCERNING GOVERNIMENT. yi

But if kings defire that in their word there ihould
be power, let them take care that it be always ac-
companied with truth and juftice. Let them ieek
the good of their people, and the hands of all
rrood men will be with them. Let them not exalt
themfelves infolently, and every one will defire to
exalt them. Let them acknowledge themfelves to
be the fervants of the public, and all men will be
theirs. Let fuch as are moft addided to them, talk
no more of Caefars, nor the tributes due to them.
We have nothing to do with the name of Ca^far.
They who at this day live under it, rejed; the pre-
rogatives antiently ufurped by thofe that had it, and
are govern'd by no other laws than their own. We
know no law to which we owe obedience but that
of God, and ourfelves. Afiatic flaves ufually pay
fuch tributes as are impofed upon them ; and whilit
braver nations lay under the Roman tyranny, they
were forced to fubmiit to the fame burdens. But
even thofe tributes were paid for maintaining armies,
fleets and garrifons, without which the poor and
abjedl life they led could not have been preferved.
We owe none but what we freely give. None is
or can be impofed upon us, unlefs by ourfelves.
We meaiure our grants according to our own
will, or the prefent occafions, for our own fafety.
Our anceflors were born free^ and, as the beft pro-
vifion they could ma e for us, they left us that liberty
intire, with the belT: laws they could devife to defend
it. 'Tis noway impair'dby the opinions of the fathers.
The words of Solomon do rather confirm it. The
happinefs of thofe who enjoy the like, and the
fliameful m.ifery they lie under, who have fuflfer'd
,themfelves to be forced or cheated out of it, may
perfuade, and the juHice of the caufe encourage us to

F 4 think

71 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

think nothing too dear to be hazarded in the defence
of it.

SECT. IX.

Cur own Idws confirm to zis the enjoyment of cur

native rights,

F that which our author calls divinity did reach
the things in difpute between us, or that the
opinions of the fathers which he alledges, related to
them, he might havefpared the pains of examining
our laws : for a municipal fandlion were of little
force to confirm a perpetual and univerfal law given
by God to mankind, and of no value againft it,
iince man cannot abrogate what God hath inftituted,
nor one nation free itfelf from a law that is given to
all. But having abufed the fcriptures, and the
waitings of the fathers, (whofe opinions are to be
valued only fo far as they rightly interpret them)
he feems defirous to try whether he can as well put
a falfe fenfe upon our law, and has fully compaffed
his defign. According to his cuftom he takes pieces
of paiTages from good books, and turns them direcflly
againft the plain meaning of the authors, exprefled
in the Vvdiole fcope and deiign of their writings. To
fiiow that he intends to fpare none, he is not afhamed
to cite Bradon, who of all our antient law-writers
is moft oppoiite to his maxims. He lived, fays he, in
Henry the third's time, fince parliamiCnts w^re in-
-ftlcuted : as if there had been a time when England
had wanted tliem ; or that the eftablilliment of our
liberty had been made by the Kormans, who, if
we will believe our author, came in by force of
armxS, and opprcffed us. But we have already proved
the eflcnce of parliaments to be as antient as our
nation, and that there was no time in which there

were

cc

CI

cc

Sea. 9. CONCER>s'ING GOVERNMENT. 7-

were not fuch councils or affemblies of the people
as had the power of the whole, and rnade or unmade
fuch laws as beft pleafed themfelves. We have in-
deed a French word from a people that came from
France, but the power was always in ourfclves 5 and
the Norman kings were obliged to fwear they
would govern according to the laws that had been
made by thofe affemblies. It imports little whether
Brailon lived before or after they cam.e amongft us.
His words are, *' Omnes fub eo, & ipfe fub nullo,
'' fed tantum fub Deo ; all are under him and he
^' under none but God only. If he offend, iince
no writ can go out againft him, their remedy is
by petitioning him to amend his faults ; which if
he will not do, it is punilhment enough for him
to expedl God as an avenger. Let none prefume
to look into his deeds, much lefs to oppofe him."
Here is a mixture of fenfe and nonfenfe, truth and
falihood, the words of Bradon with our author's
foolifh inferences from them. Bradton fpoke of the
politic capacity of the king, when no law had for-
bidden him to divide it from his natural. He gave
the name of king to the fovereign pov^er of the
nation, as Jacob called that of his defcendants the
fceptre ; which he faid (hould not depart from Judah
till Shiloh came, tho' all men know that his race did
not reign the third part of that time over his own
tribe, nor full fourfcore years over the whole nation.
The fame manner of fpeech is ufed in all parts of
the world. Tertullian under the name of Csfar
comprehended all magillratical power, and imputed
to him the a6ls of which in his perfon he never had
any knowledge. The French fay, their king is al-
ways prefent, " fur fon lit de juflice," in all the fo-
vereign courts of the kingdom, which are not eafi-
ly numbered; and that maxim could have in it nei-
ther

74 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

ther fenfe nor truth, if by it they meant a man, who
can be but in one place at one time, and is always
comprehended within the dimenfions of his own
ikin. Thefe things could not be unknown to Brae-
ton, the like being in ufe amongft us ; and he
thought it no offence fo far to follow the didlates of
reafon prohibited by no law, as to make a difference
between the invifible and omniprefent king, who
never dies, and the perfon that wears the crown,
whom no man v/ithout the guilt of treafon may en-
deavour to kill, fince there is an ad: of parliament
in the cafe. I will not determine whether he fpoke
properly or no as to England ; but if he did not,
all that he faid being upon a falfe fuppofition, is no-
thing to our purpofe. The fame Bradon fays " the
*' king doth no wrong," in as much as he doth no-
thing but by law. *' *The power of the king is
" the power of the law, a power of right not of
wrong." Again, '* If -f* the king does injuftice,
'' he is not king." In another place he has thefe
words; " ;{; The king therefore ought to exerclfe
^' the power of the lav^, as becomes the vicar and
*^* minlfter of God upon earth, becaufe that power
is the power of God alone ; but the power of
doing wrong is the power of the devil, and not of
** God. And the king is his minifter whofe work
** he does : whilft he does juftice, he is the vicar of
^' the eternal king ; but if he defied from it to ad
" uniuftly, he is the minifter of the devil." He
alfo fays that the king is '' fingulis major, unlverfis

* Poteftas regis eft poteftas legis, poteftas juris non injuriae.

Bracl. de leg, Angl,

\ Qui fi facit injuriam, non eft rex Ibid.

X Exercere igitar debet rex poteftatem juris ficut Dei vicarius &r
minlfter in terra, qiia ilia poteftas folius Deleft, poteftas autem inju-
ria dlaboli eft non Dei ; & cujus horum opera fecerit rex, ejus minlf-
ter erit : igitur dum facit juftkiam, vicarius eft regis aeterni: minlfter
autem diaboli dum declinet ad injuriam. Ibid. 1. 3.

" minor;"

Sta. 9. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 75

•* minor ;" and that he who is " in juftitia exequen-
«' da omnibus major, in juftitia recipienda cuilibet
** ex plebe fit equalis." I fliall not lay Bradlon is
in the right when he fpeaks in this manner ; but
'tis a ftrange impudence in Fihner to cite him as a
patron of the abfolute powxr of kings, who does fo
extremely deprefs them. But the grofieft of his
. .follies is yet m.ore pardonable than his deteftablc
ff fraud in falfifying Brafton's words, and leaving out
fuch as are not for his purpofe, which fhew his
meaning to be diredly contrary to the fenfe put
upon them. That this may appear, I fhall fet down
the words as they are found in Bractcn : '' Ipfe
** autcm rex non debet eiTe fub homine, fed fub
*' Deo, & fub lege, quia lex facit regem. Attri-
*' buat ergo rex legi quod lex attribuit ei, id eft do-
minationem & poteftatem : non eft enim rex ubi
dominatur voluntas & non lex ; & quod fub lege
*' effe debeat, cum fit Dei vicarlus, evidenter ap-
*' paret." If Bradton therefore be a competent
judge, the king is under the law; and he is not a
king, nor God's vicegerent unlefs he be fo; and
v^e all know how to proceed with thofe who beingr
under the law, offend againfl: it. For the law is not
made in vain. In this cafe fomething more is to be
done than petitioning; and 'tis ridiculous to fay,
" that if " he will not amend, 'tis puni£hment
" enough for him to exped: God an avenger;" for
the fame may be faid of all malefadors. God can
fufficiently punifh thieves and murderers : but the
future judgment, of which perhaps they have no
belief, is not fufficient to refl:rain them from com-
- mitting more crimes, nor to deter others from fol-
lowing their example. God was always able to
punifh murderers, but yet by his law he commands
man to (bed the blood of him who fhould ihed

man's

76 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

man's blood ; and declares that the land cannot be
purged of the guilt by any other means. He had
judgments in flore for Jeroboam, Ahab, and thofe
that were like them ; but yet he commanded that,
according to that law, tlieirhoufes fhould be deftroy d
from the earth. The doo;s lick'd up the blood of
Ahab, where they had licked that of Naboth, and
eat Jezebel who had contrived his murder. '' But,"
fays our author, " we muft not look into his deeds,
" much lefs oppofe them." MvA not David look
into Saul's deeds, nor oppofe them ? Why did he
then bring together as many men as he could to
oppofe, and make foreign alliances again ft him,
even with the Moibites and the accurfcd Philiftines?
Why did Jehu not only deftroy Ahab's houfe, but
kill the king of Judah and his forty brothers, only for
going to vifit his children ? Our author m^ay perhaps
fay, becaufe God commanded them. But if God com-
manded them to do fo, he did not command them
and all mankind not to dofo; and if he did not forbid,
they have nothing to refiirain them from doing the
like, unlefs they have made municipal laws of their
6wn to the contrary, which our author and his
followers may produce when they can find them.

His next work is to go l^ck again to the tribute,
paid by Chrift to Ca^far, and judicioufly to infer, that
all nations muftpay the fame duty to their magiftrates,
as the Jews did to the Romans who had fubdued
them. *^ Chrift did not," fays he, '' afl^ what the
law of the land was, nor inquire whether there
was a ftatute again li it, nor v/hether the tribute
were given by the confent of the people, but up-
on fight of the fuperfcription concluded, &c." It
had been ftrange if Chrifl had inquired after their
laws, ftatutes or confent, when he knew that their
commonwealth, with all the laws by which it had

fubfifted.

cc

Sea. 9. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 77

fubfifted, was abolifhed; and that Ifrael was become
a fervant to thofe who exercifed a moft violent domi-
nation over them ; which being a peculiar punifTi-
ment for their peculiar fins, can have no influence
upon nations that are not under the fame circum-
fiances.

But of all that he fays, nothing is more incom-
prehenfible, than what he can mean by lawful kings
to whom all is due that was due to the R.oman ufur-
pers. For lawful kings are kings by the law : In
being kings by the law, they are fuch kings as the
law makes them, and that law only mufi tell us
what is due to them; or by an univerfal patriarchicai
right, to which no man can have a title, as is faid
before, till he prove himfelf to be the right heir of
Noah. If neither of thefe are to be regarded, but •
rfiat right follows pofTeffion, there is no fuch thing
as an ufurper ^ he who has the power has the right,
as indeed Filmer fays, and his wifdom as well,
as his integrity is fufficiently declared by the afler-
tion.

This wicked extravagancy is followed by an atten:jpt
of as Angular ignorance and ftupidity, to fliuffle t<.3~
gether ufurpers and conquerors, as if they were the
fame ^ whereas there have been many ufurpers who
were not conquerors, and conquerors that deferved
not the name of ufurpers. No wife inan ever faid
that Agathocles or Dionyfius concper^d Syracufe ,
Tarquin, Galba or Otho, Rome ; Cromwel, Eng-
land 3 or that the Magi, who feiz'd the government
of Perfia after the death of C'ambyfes, conquered
that country. When Mofes and Joihua had over-
thrown the kingdoms of the Amorltes, Moabites and
Canaanites; or when David fubdued the Ammoniies,
Edomites, and others, none, as I fuppofe, but fuch

divines

yS DISCOURSES Chap. III.

divines as Filmer, will fay they ufurped a dominion
over them. There is fuch a thing amongft men as
juft war, or elfe true valour would not be a virtue
but a crime ; and inftead of glory, the utmoft in-
famy would always be the companion of victory.
There are, (fays * Grotius,) laws of war as well as
of peace. He who for a juft caufe, and by juft
means, carries on a juft war, has as clear a right to
what is acquired as can be enjoy *d by man, but all
ufurpation is deteftable and abominable.

SECT. X.

^he ivords of St. Paul enjoining obedience to higher
powers^ favour all forts of governments no lefs than
monarchy.

U R author's next quarrel is with St. Paul,
" who did not," as he fays, " in enjoining
*' fubjeftion to the higher powers, iignify the laws
*' of the land, or mein the higheft powers, as well
*' ariftocratical and dem.ocratical as regal, but a
" monarch that carries the fword, &;c." But what
if there be no monarch in the place ? or what if he
do not carry the fv/ord ? Had the apoftle fpoken in
vain, if the liberty of the Romans had not been
overthrown by the fraud and violence of Csefar ?
Was no obedience to be exafted whilft that people
enjoy'd the benefit of their own laws, and virtue
ftouriftied under the moderate government of a legah
and juft magiftracy, eftabliftied for the common-
good, by the common confcnt of all ? Had God
no minifter amongft them till law and juftice was
overthrown, the beft part of the people deftroy'd by
the fury of a corrupt mercenary foldiery, and the
world fubdued under the tyranny of the worft^

* Belli asq^uff ac pads jura. Dcjiir. l^L t^ tac,

monfters

Sea. 10. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 7

monfters that it had ever produced ? Are thefe the
ways of eftablifhing God's vicegerents ? and v^^ill he
patronize no governors or governments but fuch as
thefe f^ Does God uphold evil, and that only? If the
world has been hitherto miflaken, in giving the name
of evil to that which is good, and calling that good
which is evil ; I defire to know what can be call'd
good amongft men, if the government of the
Romans, till they entred Greece and Afia, and were
corrupted by the luxury of both, do not deferve that
name ^ or what is to be efteemed evil, if the eftab-
liihment and exercife of the Casfars power were not
fo ? But fays he, " Wilt thou not be afraid of the
** power ?" And was there no power in the govern-
ments that had no monarchs ? Were the Cartha-
ginians, Romans, Grecians, Gauls, Germans and
Spaniards without power .? Was there no fword in
that nation and their magiftrates, who overthrew the
kingdoms of Armenia, Egypt, Numidia, IVIacedon,
and many others, whom none of the monarchs were
able to refift ? Are the Venetians, Switzers, Grifons
and Hollanders now left in the fame weaknefs, and no
obedience at all due to their magiflrates.?^ If this be fo^
how comes it to pafs that jullice isfo welladminiftred
amongft them ? V/ho is it that defends the Holl an*
dcrs in fuch a manner, that the greatefl monarchs
with all their f words have had no great reafon to boaft
of any advantages gained againft them? at leaft till we
(whom theycouldnotrefift when we had no monarch,
tho' we have been difgracefully beaten by them fince w^e
had one) by making leagues againft them, and fow-
ing divifions amongft them, inftigated and aflifted
the greateft power nov/ in the world to their de-
ftrn6lion and our own. But our author is fo ac-
cuftom'd to fraud, that he never cites a paiTage of
fcripture which he does not abufe or vitiate > and

z tliat

So DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

that he may do the fame in this place, he leaves
out the following words, " For there is no power
" but of God," that he might intitle one fort only
to his protedlion. If therefore the people and po-
pular magijftrates of Athens ; the two kings, Epho-
ri and fenate of ^Sparta; the Sanhedrins amongft
the Hebrews -, the confuls, tribunes, pretors and
fenate of Rome ; the magiftrates of Holland, Switzer-
land and Venice, have or had power, we may con-
clude that they alfo were ordained by God ; and
that according to the precept of the apoftle, the
fame obedience for the fime reafon is due to them as
to any monarch.

The apoftle farther explaining himfelf, and View-
ing who may be accounted a magiftrate, and what
the duty of fuch an one is, informs us when we
Ihould fear, and on what account. " Rulers, fays
*' he, are not a terror to good works, but to the
'' evil : wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do
*' that which is good, and thou Ihalt have praife of
" the fame; for he is the minifter of God, a re-
'^ venger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil,"
He therefore is only the minifter of God, who is
not a terror to good works, but to evil ; who exe-
cutes wrath upon ihofe that do evil, and is a praife
to thofe that do well. And he wlio doth wellj
ought not to be afraid of the power, for he fhall
receive praife. Now if our author were alive, tho'
he was a man of a hard forehead, I would aik. him,
whether in his confcience he believed, that Tiberius,
Caligula, Claudius, Nero, and the rabble of fuc-
ceeding maonfters, v/ere a praife to thofe who did
well, and a terror to thofe who did ill ^ and not
the contrary, a praife to the worft, and a terror to
the beft men of the world ? or for what reafon.

Tacitus

Sedl. lo. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. Si

* Tacitus could fay, that virtue brought men who
lived under them to certain deftruftion, and recite
(o many examples of the brave and good, who
were murder'd by them for being fo, unlefs they
had endeavour'd to extinguifh all that was good,
and to -f- tear up virtue by the roots ? Why did he
call Domitian an J enemy to virtue, if he was a
terror only to thofe that did evil ? If the world has
hitherto been mifled in thefe things, and given the
name of virtue to vice, and of vice to virtue, then
Germanicus, Valerius Afiaticus, Corbulo, Helvidi-
us Prifcus, Thrafeas, Soranus and others that re-
fembled them, who fell under the rage of thofe
beafts, nay Paul himfelf and his difciples were evil
doers ; and Macro, Narciffus, Pallas, Vinnius, La-
co and Tigellinus were virtuous and good men. If
this be fo, v/e are beholden to Filtner for admonifli-
ing mankind of the error in which they had fo long
continued. If not, thofe who perfecuted and mur-
der'd them for their virtues, were not a terror to
fuch as did evil, and a praife to thofe who did well.
The worft men had no need to fear them ; but the
befi: had, becaufe they were the beft, all princes
therefore that have power are not to be efteemed
equally the minifters of God. They that are fo,
muft receive their dignity from a title that is not
common to all, even from a juft employment of
their power to the encouragement of virtue, and to
the difcouragement of vice. He that pretends
to the veneration and obedience due to the minif-
ters of God, muft by his adions manifeft that he
is fo. And tho' I am unwilling to advance a pro-
pofition that may found harfhly to tender ears, I
am inclined to believe, that the fame rule, which

* Ob virtutes certifTimum exitium.
-f- Ipfam eK'cindere virtutcn;.
X Virtutibus iufcHum.

Vol. II. C obliges

g2 DISCOURSES Ghap. IK

obliges us to yield obedience to the good magiftratc
who is the minifter of God, and afTures us that in
obeying him we obey God, does equally oblige us
not to obey thole who make themfelvcs the minifters
of the devil, left in obeying them we obey the devil,
whofe works they do.

That none but fuch as are wilfully ignorant may
miftake Paul's meaning, Peter who \vas direfted by
the lame fplrit, lays diiiindtly, '' Submit your felves
*' to every ordinance of man for the Lord's fake."
If therefore there be feveral ordinances of men
tending to the fame end, that is, the obtaining of
judice, by being a terror to the evil and a praife to
the ffood, the like obedience is for confcience fake
enjoined to all, and upon thfe fame condition. But
as no man dares to fay, that Athens and Periia, Car-
thage and Egypt, Switzerland and France, Venice
and Turky were and are under the fame government;
the fame obedience is due to the magiftrate in every
one of thofe places, and all others on the fame ac-
count, whilft they continue to be the minifters of
God.

If our author fay, tliat Peter cannot comprehend
kings under the name of human ordinances, fince
Paul fays they are the ordinance of God, I may as
well lay that Paul cannot call that the ordinance of
God, which Peter calls the ordinance of man. But
as it was faid of Mofes and Samuel, that they who
fpoke by the fame fpirit could not contradid: each
other, Peter and Paul being full of wifdom and
iandtity, and infpir'd by the fame fpirit, muft needs
,fay the fame thing; and Grotius fliews that they
perfed:ly agree, tho' the one calls kings, rulers and
governors the ordinance of man, and the other the
ordinance of God ; inafmuch as God liaving from
the beginning ordained that men fliould not live like.

wolves S

Sea. ro. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. S3

wolves in woods, every man by himfelf, but together
in civil focieties, left to every one a liberty of join-
ing with that fociety which beil pleas'd hirn, and to
every fociety to create fuch magiilrates, and frame
fuch laws as fliould fecm moft conducing to their
own good, according to the meafure of light and
reafon they might have. And every magiilracy fo
inftituted might rightly be called the ordinance of
man, who was the inftituter, and the ordinance of
God, according to which itwasinftituted^ '• becaufe/*
fays he, " God approved and ratified the falutary
" conftitations of government m.ade by men"^'/'

But, fays our author, Peter expounds his own
words of the human ordinance to be the king, wha
is the " lex loquens 3" but he fays no fuch thing,
and I do not find that any fuch thought ever enter'd
into the apoftie's mind. The words are often found
in the works of Plato and Ariflotle, but applied only
to fuch a man as is a king by nature, who is endow 'd
with all the virtues that tend to the good of human
focieties in a greater meafure than any or all thofe
that compofe them ; which character I think, will
be ill applied to ail kings. And that this may appear
to be true, I defire to know whether it would well
have agreed with Nero, Caligula, Domitian, or others
like to them ; and if not with them, then not with
all, but only with thofe who are endow'd with fuch
virtues. But if the king be made by man, he mud
be fuch as man makes him to be ; and if the power
of a \zw had been given by any human fan6tion to
the word of a foolilh, mad, or wicked man (which
I hardly believe) it would be dcilroy'd by its own
iniquity and turpitude, and the people left under the
obligation of rendring obedience to thofe, who fo ufe

* Quia falubrem honiiiium conflitationem Deus probavit Sc fanxic.

G 2 the

84 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

the fword that the nations under them may live
foberly, peaceably and honeftly.

This obhges me a httle to examine what is meant
by the fword. The pope fays there are two fwords,
the one temporal, the other fpiritual, and that both
of them were given to Peter and to his fucceflbrs.
Others m.ore rightly underfland the two fwords to
be that of war and that of juftice, which according
to feveral conftitutions of governments have been
committed to feveral hands, under feveral conditions
and limitations. The Iword of juftice comprehends
the leglflative and the executive power : the one is
exercifed in making laws, the other in judging con-
troverfies according to fuch as are made. The mili^
tary fword is ufed by tliofe magiftrates who have it,
in making war or peace with whom they think fit,
and fometimes by others who have it not, in purfuing
fuch wars as are refolved upon by another power.
The Jewifli docftors generally agree that the kings of
Judah could make no law, becaufe there was a
curfe denounced againft thofe who fliould add to,
or detract from that which God had given by the
hand of Mofes; that they might fit in judgment with
the high prieft and fanhedrin, but could not judge
by themfelves unlefs the fanhedrin did plainly fail of.
performing their duty. Upon this account Maimo-
nides excufes David for commanding Solomon not to
fuffer the grey hairs of Joab to go down to the grave
in peace, and Solomon for appointing him to be
kill'd at the foot of the altar : for he having killed
Abner and Amafa, and by thofe actions flied the
blood of war in the time of peace, the fanhedrin
fhould have puniflied him ; but being protected by
favour or power, and even David himfelf fearing
him, Solomon was put in mind of his duty, which
he performed, tho' Joab laid hold upon the horns of

the

Sea. lo. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 85

the altar, which by the exprefs words of the law gave
no prote6lion to wilful murderers.

The ufe of the military fword amongft them was
alfo moderated. Their kings might make war upon
thefeven accurfed nations that they were commanded
to deftroy, and fo might any other man ; for no peace
was to be made with them : but not againft any otlier
nation, without the affent of the fanhedrin. And
when Amazlah contrary to that law had fooliflily
made war upon Joafli king of Ifrael, and thereby
brought a great flaughter upon Judah, the princes,
that is the fanhedrin, combined againft him, purfued
him to Lachifli, and killed him there. "^^

The legifiative power of Sparta was evidently in
the people. The laws that go under the name of Ly-
curgus *. werepropofedbyhim to the general aflembly
of the people, and from them received their authority:
But the difcipline they contained was of fuch efficacy
for framing the minds of men to virtue, and by banifli-
ing filver and gold they fo far banifhed all manner
of crimes, that from the inftitution of thofe laws to
the times of their corruption, which was more than
eight hundred years, we hardly find that three men
were put to death, of whom two were kings; fo
that it feems difficult to determine where the power
of judging did refide, tho' 'tis moft probable, con-
lidering the nature of their government, that it was
in the fenate, and in cafes extraordinary in the Ephori,
with a right of appealing to the people. Their kings
therefore could have little to do with the fword of
juftice, neither the legifiative nor the judicial power
being any ways in them.

The military fword was not much more in
their power, unlefs the excellency of their virtues

* Plut. vit. Lycu»i

G 3 gave

S6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

gave them the credit of perfuading, when the law
denied the right of commanding. They were obli2;ed
to make war againft thofe, and thofe only, who
were declared enemies by the fenate and Ephori^ and
in the manner, place and time they directed : fo
that Agefilaus, tho' carrying on a glorious war in
Perfia, no fooner received the parchment roil, where-
in he was commcindedby the Ephori to come home
for the defence of his own country, than he imme-
diately returned, and is on that account called by no
lefs a man than Xenophon ^, a good and faith-
ful king, rendring obedience to tlie lav/s of his
/ country.

By this it appears that there are kings who may be
feared by thoie that do ill, and not by fuch as do
wdl ; for having no miore power than what the law
gives, and being obliged to execute it as the law
direfe, tliey cannot depart from the precept of the
i^poftle. My ovs^n adions therefore, or the fenfe of
my own guilt arifing from them, is to be the meafure
of my fear of that maglitrate who is the minifcer of God,
and not his power.

The like may be faid of almoft all the nations of
the w^orld, that have had any thing of civil order
amongft them. The fupreme magiftrate, under
w^hat name foever he was known, whether king,
emperor, afymnetes, fuffetes, conful, didator, or
archon, has ufually a part affigned to him in the
adminiftration of juflice and making war ; but that
he may know it to be afligned and not inherent, and
fo affigned as to be employed for the public good,
not to his own profit or pleafure, it is circumfcribed
by fuch rules as he cannot fafely tranfgrefs. This is
above all feen in the Germian nations, from whom
v/e draw our original and government^ and is fo well

♦ De Reg. Agcfil.

defcribed

Sea. 10. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. S;

defcribed by Tacitus* in his trcatilc of their culloms
and manners, that I fliall content mylclf to refer to
it, and to what I have cited from him in the former
part of this work. The Saxons coming into our
country retain'd to thcn.:ifehxs the fam.e rights.
They had no l-iings but fuch as were fet up by tlicm-
felves, and they abrogated their power when they
pleafed. -f OfFa acknowledged " that he was choka
for the defence of their hberty, not from his own
merit, but by their favour i" and in the Convei^itus
PanangUcus, at which all the chief men as well
fecular as eccleiiailical were prefent, it was decreed
by the king, archbifhops, bidiops, abbots, dukes
and fenators, that the kings fliould be chofen by the
priefts, and by the elders of the people. In purfu-
ance of which, Egbert, who had no right to the
fuccefiion, was made king, Ethel werd w^as chofen
in the fame manner J by the confent of all. Ethel-
wolf a monk, for want of a better^ was advanced
to the fame honour. His fon Alfred, tho' crowned
by the pope, and marrying without the confent of
the nobility and kingdom || againfh their cufloms and
ftatutes, acknowledged that he had received the crown
from the bounty of the princes, elders and people ;
and in his will declared that he left the people as he
had found them, free as the inward thoughts of m.an.
His fon Edward § was elefted to be his fucceflbr.
Ethelftan, tho' a baftard, and, without all title, was
eledled by the confent of the nobility and people.
Eldred by the fame authority was elected and pre-
ferred before the fons of Edmond his prcdecellor.

* De morib. Germ.

f A J iibcrcatis vclirae tuitionem non mch merids, fed Tola libciali-
tate veftra.

;|; Omnium confenfu.

II Contra morcm S>: rtatuta.

^ SucceiTor monarchiaeeleftus,

G 4 Edwin,

^

88 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

Edwin, tho rightly chofen, was depofed for his ill
life, and Edgar * elected king, by " the will of God,
'* and confent of the people." But he alfo was de-
prived of the crown for the rape of a r^un, and after
feven years reflored by the whole people^ " coram
" omni multitudine populi Anglorum." Ethelred
who is faid to have been -f- cruel in the beginning,
wretched in the courfe, and infamous in the end of
his reign, was depofed by the fame power that had
advanced him. Canutus made a if contrad: with
the princes and the whole people, and thereupon
was by general confent crown' d king over all Eng-
land. After him Harold was chofen in the ufual
manner. Ele being dead, a meffage was fent to
Hardi Canute with an offer of the crown, which
he accepted, and accordingly was received. Edward
the confeffor was || elefed king with the confent of
the clergy and people at London -, and Harold ex-
cufed himfelf for not performing his oath to Wil-
liam the Norman, becaufe he faid he had made it
unduly and prefumptuoufly, § without confulting
the nobility and people, and without their authori-
ty. V/illiam. was received with great joy by the
clergy and people, and faluted king by all, fwear-
ing to obferve the antient good and approved laws
of England : and tho' he did but ill perform his
oath, yet before his death he feemed to repent of
the ways he had taken, and only wifhing his fon
might be king of England, he confeffed in his laft
will made at Caen in Normandy, 4- that he neither

* Et eligerunt Deo diftante Edgarum in regem annuente populo.

■\ Ssvus in principio, mifcr in medio, turpis in exitu.

+ Canutus fcedus cum principibus & cmni populo, & ilH cum ipfo
percufferunt.

II Annuente clero & populo Londini in regem eligituf.

^ Abfque generali fenatus «S: populi cpnventu & edi6lo.

Mc-.tth. Pari/. Gul. Gemit, ^c.

4- Neminem Anglici regni conftituo haredem, non enim tantum
decusha^reditario jurepofiedi. ibid,

found

Sea. 10, CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 89

found nor left the kingdom as an inheritance. If
he poifeiTcd no right except what was conferred
upon him, no more was conferred than had been
enjoy'd by the antient kings according to the ap-
proved laws which he fwore to obferve. Thofe laws
gave no power to any, till he was eledled ; and that
which they did then give was fo limited, that the
nobility and people referved to themfelves the difpo-
lition of the greateft affairs, even to the depofition
and expulfion of fuch as Ibould not well perform
the duty of their oaths and office. And I leave
it to our author to prove, how they can be faid to
have had the fword and the power fo as to be feared,
otherwife than, as the apoftle fays, by thofe that
do evil; which we acknowledge to be not only in
the king, but in the lov/eft officer of juftice in the
world.

If it be pretended that our later kings are more
to be feared than William the Norman, or his pre-
deceflbrs, it miuft not be, as has been proved, either
from the general right of kings, or from the doc-
trine of the apoftle, but from fomething elfe that
is peculiar and fubfequent, which I leave our author's
difciples to prove, and an anfv/er may be found in
due time. But to fhow that our anceftors did not
miftake the words of the apoftle, 'tis good to con-
fider when, to w^hom, and upon what occafion he
fpoke. The Chriftian religion was then in its infancy:
his difcourfes were addreffed to the profeffors of it,
who tho' they foongrewtobe confiderable in number,
were for the moft part of the meaneft fort of people,
fervants or inhabitants of the cities, rather than ci-
tizens and freemen ; joined in no civil body or fo-
ciety, nor fuch as had or could have any part in the
government. The occafion was to fupprefs the dan-
gerous miftake of many converted Jews and others,

who

9o DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

who knowing themfelves to be freed from the power
of lin and the devil, prefumed they were aho freed
from the obhgation of human laws. Ahd if this
error had not been cropd in the bud, it would have
given occafion to their enemies, (who deiired no-
thing more) to deftroy them all ; and who know-
ing that fuch notions were ilirring among them^
would have been glad, that they who were not
ealily to be difcovered, had by that means difcover-
ed themfelves.

This induced a neceffity of diverting a poor, mean,
fcatter'd people from fuch thoughts concerning the
ftate 5 to convince them of the error into which they
were fallen, that Chriftians did not owe the fame
obedience to civil laws and magiftrates as other men,
and to keep them from drawing deftru6lion upon
themfelves by fuch ways, as not being warranted by
God, had no promife of his protedion. St. Paul's
work was to preferve the profelfors of Chrillianity,
as appears by his own words ; " ''^ I exhort, that
lirfl of all, fupplications, prayers, interceflibns,
and giving of thanks be made for all men : for
kings, and for all that are in authority, that we
may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinefs
and honefty. -f- Put them in mind to be fabjed: to
principalities and powers, to obey magiftrates,
to be ready for every good v^ork." St. Peter
agrees with him fully in defcribing the magiftrate
and his duty ; fhewing the reafons why obedience
iliould be pay'd to him, and teaching Chriftians to be
humble and contented with their condition, as free,
yet not ufing their liberty for a cover to malice ; and
not only to fear God and honour the king (of which
conjunction of words fuch asFilmerare very proud)
but to honour all men, as is faid in the fame verfc.

* I Tim. ii, f Tit. iii.

2 This

cc

(C

cc
cc

Sea. lo. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 91

This was in a peculiar manner the work of that
time, in which thofe w^ho were to preach and pro-
pagate the gofpel, were not to be diverted from
that duty, by entangUng themfelves in the care of
ftate-affairs ; but it does in feme fenfe agree with all
times : for it can never be the duty of a good man
to oppofe fuch a magifrrate as is the minifler of God,
in the exercife of his office, nor to deny to any m.an
that which is his due.

But as the Chrifticin law exempts no man from
the duty he owes to his father, mafler, or the ma-
gtllrate., it does not make him more a flave than he
was before, nor deprive him of any natural or civil
right; and if we are obliged to pay tribute, honour,
or any other thing where it is not due, it mufl; be
by fome precept very different from that which
commands us to give to Casfar that which is Ca^far's.
If he define the magiftrate to be the miniirer of
God doing juftice, and from thence draws the rea-
fons he gives for rendring obedience to him, we are
to inquire whofe minifter he is who overthrows it,
and look for fome other reafon for rendring obedi-
ence to him than the words of the apoftles. If
David, who was willing to lay down his life for
the people, who '' hated iniquity," and would not
*' fuffer a liar to come into his prefence," was the
minifter of God, I defire to know whofe minifter
Caligula was who let up himfelf to be worfhipped
for a God, and would at once have deftroyed all the
people that he ought to have proteded ? Whofe
minifter was Nero, who, beiides the abominable
impurities of his life, and hatred to all virtue, as
contrary to his perfon and government, fet fire to
the great city ? If it be true, that '^ contrariorum
contraria eft ratio," thefe queftions are eafily decid-
ed 'y and if the reafons of things are eternal, the

fame

92 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

fame diflinftion grounded upon truth will be good
for ever. Every magiftrate, and every man by his
works, will for ever declare whofe minifter he is,
in what fpirit he lives, and confequently what obe-
dience is due to him according to the precept of the
apoftle. If any man a{k what I mean by juftice,
I anfwer, that the law of the land, as far as it is
" Sand:io red:a, jubens honefta, prohibens contra-
" ria ■*,'' declares what it is. But there have been
and are laws that are neither juft nor commendable.
There was a law in Rome, that no God fliould be
worfliipped without the confent of the fenate : upon
which TertuUian fays fcoffingly, " -f That God
*' fhall not be God unlefs he pleafe man ;" and
by virtue of this law the firft Chriftians were expofed
to all manner of cruelties -, and fome of the empe-
rors (in other refped:s excellent men) moil foully
polluted themfelves and their government with in-
nocent blood. Antoninus Pius was taken in this
fnare ; and TertuUian bitterly derides Trajan for
glorying in his clemency, when he had commanded
Pliny, who was proconful in Afia, not to make any
fearch for Chriftians, but only to punifli them ac-
cording to law when they fliould be brought before
him. No municipal law can be more firmly efta-
blifhed by human authority, than that of the inqui-
lition in Spain, and other places : and thofe accurf-
ed tribunals, which have fhed more Chriftian blood
than all the Pagans that ever were in the world, is
commonly called The holy office. If a gentleman
in Poland kill a peafant, he is by a law nov/ in ufe
free from punifhment, if he lay a ducat upon the
dead body. Evenus the third of Scotland, caufed
a law to pafs^ by which the wives and daughters of

* Cicero.
-j- Nifi homini Deus placucrjt Deus non erit.

noble^

Sea. II. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 93

noblemen were expofed to his luft, and thofe of the
commons to the luft of the nobility. Thefe, and an
infinite number of others like to them, were not
right fandtions, but fuch as have produced unfpeak-
able mifchiefs and calamities. They were not there-
fore laws : the name of juftice is abufively attributed
to them : thofe that govern by them cannot be
the minifters of God : and the apoftle commanding
our obedience to the minifter of God for our good,
commands us not to be obedient to the minifter
of the devil to our hurt; for we cannot ferve two
mafters.

S E C T. XI.

^hat which is net jufl^ is not law ; and that which
is not law, ought net to be obeyed,

OU R author having for a long time pretended
confcience, now pulls off his mafk, and plain-
ly tells us, that 'tis not on account of confcience,
but for fear of punifhment, or hopes of reward, that
laws are to be obeyed. " That familiar diftindtion
of the fchoolmen, fays he, whereby they fubjedl
kings to the diredtive, but not to the coadive
power of the law, is a confeflion, that kings are
not bound by the pofitive laws of any nation, fince
the compulfory power of law^s is that which pro-
perly makes laws to be laws." Not troubling
myfelf with this diftindlion of the fchoolmen, nor
acknowledging any truth to be in it, or that they are
competent judges of fuch matters, I fay, that if it
be true, our author's conclufion is altogether falfe ;
for the diredtive power of the law, which is certain,
and grounded upon the inherent good and redlitude
that is in it, is that alone which has a power over
the confcience, whereas the coercive is merely con-

I tingent 5

<c
<(

<c

(C

<(
((

94- ' DISCOURSES Chap. III.

tingent ; and the moil juft powers commanding the
moft juft things, have {o often fallen under the vio-
lence of the moit unjufl: men, commanding the moft
execrable villanies, that if they were therefore to
be obeyed, the confciences of men muft be regulated
by the fuccefs of a battle or confpiracy, than which
nothing can be affirmed more impious and abfurd. '
By this rale David v/as not to be obeyed, when by
the wickednefs of his fon he was driven from Jerufa-
lem, and deprived of all coercive power ; and the
confcientious obedience that had been due to him
was transfer'd to Abfalom who fought his life.
And in St. Paul's time it was not from him who
was guided only by the fpirit of God, and had no
manner of coercive power, that chrifcians were to
learn their duty, but from Caligula, Claudius, and
Nero, v/ho had that power well eftabliflied by the
mercenary legions. If this were (o, the governments
of the world might bejuftly called Magna Latroci-
nia ; and men laying aiide all confiderations of reafon
or juftice, ought only to follow thofe who can inflid:
the greateft puniiliments, or give the greateft rewards.
But fmce the reception of fuch opinions w^ould be
the extirpation of all that can be called good, we
muft look for another rule of our obedience, and
Ihall find that to be the law, which being, as I faid
before, Sand:io Redla, muft be founded upon that
eternal principle of reafon and truth, from whence
the rule of juftice which is facred and pure ought to
be deduced, and not from the depraved will of man,
which fludluating according to the different interefts,
humours and paffions that at feveral times reign in
feveral nations, one day abrogates what had been
enacted the other. The fand:ion therefore that de-
ferves the name of a law, '^ which derives not its

" excellency

Sedl. IT. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. gs

'^ excellency from antiquity, or from the dignity of
*^ the legiflators, but from on intrinfic equity and
" juftice *," ought to be made in purfuance of that
univerfal reafon to which all nations at all times owe
an equal veneration and obedience. By this we may
know whether he who has the power does juftice or
not : whether he be the minifter of God to our good,
a protestor of good, and a terror to ill men ; or the
niinifter of the devil to our hurt, by encouragijig
all manner of evil, and endeavouring by vice and
corruption to make the people worfe, that they may .
be miferable, and miferable that they may be worfe.
I dare not fay I fliall never fear fuch a man if he be
armed with power : but I am fure I fliall never
efteem him to be the minifler of God, and fliall think
I do ill if I fear him. If he has therefore a coercive
power over me, 'tis through my weaknefs ; " for -jf
*' hethat will fuffer himfelf tobe compelFd, knows
" not how to die." If therefore he who does not
follow the direftive power of the law, be not the
minifter of God, he is not a king, at leaft not fuch
a king as the apoftle com.mands us to obey : and if
that fandlion which is not juft be not a law, and can
have no obligation upon us, by what power foever
it be eftabliiLed, it mav v^ ell fall out that the ma-
giilrate who will not follow the diredlive pov\er of
the law, may fall under the coercive, and then the
fear is turned upon him, with this aggravation, that
it is not only adtual, but juft. This was the cafe of
Nero \ the coercive power was no longer in him, but
again ft him. He that was forced to fly and to hide
himfelf, that vv'as abandoned by all men, and con-
demned to die " according to antient cuftom :{;," did,
as I fuppofw, fear, and was no way to be feared. The

* Tertul. \ Qui cogi poteft nefcit mori.

X More MajojUiH, Sueiotis

like

g6 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

like may be faid of Amaziah king of Judah, when
he fled to Lachifh -, of Nabuchodonofor, when he
was driven from the fociety of men ; and of many
emperors and kings of the greateft nations in the
world, who have been fo utterly deprived of all
power, that they have been imprifoned, depofed,
confined to monaftries, kill'd, drawn through the
ftreets, cut in pieces, thrown into rivers, and in-
deed fuffer'd all that could be fufFer'd by the vileft
flaves.

If any man fay thefe things ought not to have
been done, an anfwer may be given in a proper
place ; though 'twere enough to fay, that the juffice
of the world is not to be overthrown by a meer
affertion without proof; but that is nothing to the
prefent queftion : for if it was ill done to drive Ne-
ro to defpair, or to throw Vitellius into the com-
m.on fliore, it was not becaufe they were the mi-
niflers of God ; for their lives were no way con-
formable to the characfler which the apoftle gives to
thofe who deferve that facred name. If thole only
are to be feared who have the power, there was a
time when they were not to be feared, for they had
none , and if thofe princes are not obliged by the law,
who are not under the coercive power, it gave no ex-
emption to thofe, for they fell under it : and as we
know not what will befal others who walk in their
fteps, till they are dead, we cannot till then know
whether tliev are free from it or not.

S E C To

Sea. 12, CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 97

SECT. XII.

The 7^ight and power of a magi ftr ate depends upon hii
inftitution^ ?zot upon his name,

y' I "^ Is ufaal with impoftors to obtrude their
Jl^ deceits upon men, by putting falie names
upon things, by which they may perplex mxcns
minds, and from thence deduce falfe conclufions*
But the points above-mention'd being fettled, it im-
ports little whether the governors to whom Peter
enjoins obedience, were only kings, and fuch as are
employed by them, or all fuch magiilrates as are the
minifters of God; for he informs us of their works
that we may know them, and accordingly yield
obedience to them. This is that therefore which
diftinguifhes the magiftrate to whom obedience is due,
from him to whom none is due, and not the name
that he either affumes, or others put upon him.
But if there be any virtue in the word king^ and that
the admirable prerogatives, of which our author
dreams, were annexed to that name, they could
not be applied to the Roman emperors, nor their
fubftituted officers, for they had it not. 'Tis true,
Mark Anthony, in a drunken fit, at the celebration
of the impure Lupercalia, did offer a diadem to
Julius Caefar, w^hich fome flatterers prefied him to
accept, (as our great lawyers did Cromwxll) but he
durft not think of putting it upon his head. Cali-
gula's affedation of that title, and the enfigns of
royalty he wore, were taken for the m.oft evident
marks of his madnefs : and tho' the greateft and
braveft of their men had fallen by the w^ars or pro-
fcriptions ; tho* the beft part of the fenate had
periflied in TheiTaly ; tho' the great city was ex-
haufted, and Italy brought to defolatlon, yet they
Vol. II, H were

5^ D I S C O ir R S E S Chap. TlU

were not reduced fo low as to endure a king. Pifo
was fufficiently addidted to Tiberius, yet he could
not fufFer that German icus fhould be treated as the
ion of a king ; " Principis Romani non Parthorum
*' regis fiiio has epulas dari*." And whoever under-
ftands the Latin tongue, and the hiftory of thofe
times, will eafily perceive that the word Princeps
fignified no more than a principal or eminent man^
as has been already proved : and the words of Pifo
eould have no other meaning, than that the fon of a
Roman ought not to be diftinguiflied from others^.
as the fons of the Parthian kings were. This is
verified by his letter to Tiberius, under the name of
fi*iend, and the anfwer of Tiberius promifing to him
*^ whatfoever one friend could do for another *j-.."'
Here was no mention of his majefly or fovereiga
lord, nor the bafe fubfcriptions of fervant, fubjed:,
or creature. And I fear, that as the laft of thofe
words was introduced amongft us by our bifhops,,
the reft of them had been alfo invented by fuch
chriftians as were too much addided to the Afiatic
llavery. However, the name of king was never
folemnly affumed by, nor conferred upon thofe
emperors, and could have conferred no right, if it
had. They exercifed as they pleafed, or as they
durft, the power that had been gained by violence
or fraud. The exorbitances they committed, could
not have been juflified by a title, any more than thofe
of a pirate who fliould take the fame. It was na
otherwife given to them than by way of affimilation^
when they were guilty of the greateft crimes : and
Tacitus defcribing the deteftable luft of Tiberius,
lays, " Quibus adeo indomitis exarfcrat, ut more
" regio pubem ingcnuam ftupris pollueret 3 nee for-

* Tacit. Ami. 2. c. c;. -f Quod airJcus amico prssuare potefi. T^^icif,

ma|j3j

cc

<c
cc

Scd. 12. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 99

mam tantum & decora corporis, fed in his modef-
tarn pueritiam, in aliis majorum imagines, incita-
mentum cupiditatis habebat *.** He alfo informs
us that Nero took his time to put Bareas Soranus to
death, who was one of the moft virtuous men of
that age, when Tiridates king of Armenia was at
Rome 5 " That he might fhew the imperial gran-
deur by the flaughter of the moft illuftrious intn,
which he accounted a royal adlion -fJ* I leave it
to the judgment of all wife men, whether it be
probable that the apoftles fliould diftinguifh fuch as
thefe from other magiftrates ; and dignify thofe only
with the title of God's minifters, who diftinguifhed
themfelves by fuch ways ; or^ that the fucceeding
emperors ihould be ennobled with the fame preroga-
tive, who had no other title to the name than by
refembling thofe that had it in fuch things as thefe,
if this be too abfurd and abominable to enter into
the heart of a man, it muft be concluded, that
their intention was only to divert the poor people to
whom they preached, from involving themfelves in
the care of civil matters, to which they had no call.
And the counfel would have been good (as things
flood v/ith them) if they had been under the
power of a pirate, or any other villain fubftituted by
him.

But tho' the apoftles had looked upon the officers
fet over the provinces belonging to the Roman em-
pire, as fent by kings, I deli re to know whether it
can be imagined, that they could think the fubordi-
nate governors to be fent by kings, in the countries
that had no kings ; or that obedience became due to
the magiftrates in Greece, Italy, or other provinces
under the jurifdidtion of Rome, only after they had

* Anna].!. 6. c. i.

f Ut magnitudiiiem imperatorlam caede inrigniam virorum quafi
regio facinore oitentaret. J?j. L. i6 c. 23,

H 2 emperors,

tdo DISCOURSES Cliap. m*

emperors, and that none was due to them before ?
The Germans had then no king : the brave Armi-
nius had been lately kill'd for aiming at a crown.
When he had blemifh'd all his virtues by that at-
tempt, they forgot his former fervices. They never
confidered how many Rorrian legions he had cut in
pieces, nor how many thoufands of their allies he
had deftroyed. His valour was a crime deferving
death, when he fought to make a prey of his coun-
try, which he had fo bravely defended, and to en-
flave thofe who with him had fought for the public
liberty. But if the apoftles were to be underftood
to give the name of God's minifters only to kings,
and thofe who are employed by them, and that obe-
dience is due to no other, a dbmeflic tyrant had been,
their greateft benefadlor. He had fet up the only
government that is authorized by God, and to which
a confcicntious obedience Is due. Agathocles, Dio-
nyiius, Phalaris, Phaereus, Pififtratus, Nabis, Ma-
chanidas, and an infinite number of the moft deteft-
able villains that the world has ever produced, did
confer the fame benefits upon the countries they en-
Ilaved. But if this be equally falfe, fottifh, abfurd,
and e:^ecrable, all thofe epithets belong to our author
and his dod:rine, for attempting to deprefs all mo-
deft and regular magiftracies, and endeavouring to
corrupt the fcripture to patronize the greateft of
crimes. No man therefore who does not delight in
error,, can think that the apoftle defigned precifely
to determine fuch queftions as might arife concern-
ing any one man's right, or in the leaft degree to
prefer any one form of government before another.
In acknowledging the magiftrate to be man's ordi-
nance, he declares that man who makes him to be,
may make him to be what he pleafeth ; and tho'
there is found more prudence and virtue in one na^

lion

S^a. 11. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. lox

tion than in another, that magiftracy which is efta-
bliflied in any one ought to be obeyed, till they who
made the eftabUfliment think fit to alter it. All
therefore whilft they continue, are to be looked up-
on with the fame refped. Every nation afting free-
ly, has an equal right to frame their own govern-
ment, and to employ fuch officers as they pleafe.
The authority, right ^nd power of thefe muft be
regulated by the judgment, right and power of thofe
who appoint them, without any relation at all to
the name that is given -, for that is no way elTential
to the thing. The fame name is frequently given to
thofe, who differ exceedingly in right and po\^er ;
and the fame right and power is as often annexed to
magiftracies that differ in name. The fame power
which had been in the Roman kings, was given to

the confuls ; and that which had been legally in the
dictators for a time not exceeding fix montlis, was
afterwards ufurped by the Caefars, and made perpe-
tual. The fupreme power (which fome pretend
belongs to all kings) has been and is enjoyed in the
fiillefl extent by fuch as never had the name ; and
no magiftracy was ever more reftrained than thofe
tha,t had the name of kings in Sparta, Arragon, Eng-
land, Poland and other places. They therefore that
did thus inftitute, regulate and reftrain, create magi^
flracies, and give them names and powers as Teemed
beft to them, could not but have in themfeives the
coercive as well as the diredtlve over them ,; for the
regulation and reftridion is coercion ; but moft of all
the inftitution, by which they could make them to
be or not to be. As to the exterior force, 'tis fome-
times on the fide of the magiftrate, and fbmetimes
on that of the people ; and as magiflrates under fe-
veral names have the fame v/ork incumbent upon
jthem, and the fame power to perform it^, the fame

H 3 duty

702 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

duty Is to be exac^ledfrom them, andrendred to them:
which being diflindtly proportion'd by the laws of
every country, I may conclude, that all magiftratical
power being the ordinance of man in purfuance of the
ordinance of God, receives its being and meafurefrom
the legiilative power of every nation. And whether
the power be placed fimply in one, a few, or many
men -, or in one body compofed of the three fimple
fpecies ; whether the iingle perfon be called king,
duke, marquifs, emperor, fultan, mogul, or grand
lignior 5 or the number go under the name of fenate,
council, pregadi, diet, aflembly of eftates and the
like, 'tis the fame thing. The fame obedience is
equally due to all, w^hilft, according to the precept of
the apoftle, they do the work of God for our good :
and if they depart from it, no one of them has a bet-
ter title than the other to our obedience.

SECT. XIII.

IfO^iOS were made to dire^ and inftruB magijlratcs^
andy if they will not he dircdied^ to rcjirain
them.

Knovv^ not who they are that our author intro-
duces to fay, that *' the firft invention of lav/s
*' v/as to bridle or moderate the overgreat power of
*^ kings j" and unlefs they give fome better proof of
their judgment in other things, fl:iall little efteem
them. They {hould have confidered, that there are
laws in many places where there are no kings 3 that
there were laws in many before there were kings, as
in Ifrael the law was given three hundred years be-
fore they had any ; but moft efpecially, that as no
man can be a rightful king except by law, nor have
any juft power but from the law, if that power be
found to be overgreat, the law that gave it muft

have

Ci.

Sea. 13. CONCERNING GOYERNMENT. log

have been before that which was to moderate or re-
train it ; for that could not be moderated which.
was not in being. Leaving therefore our author to
fight with thefe adverfaries if he pleafe when he
finds them, I fliall proceed to examine his own po-
fitions. *' The truth is, fays he, the original of
laws was for the keeping of the multitude in orden
Popular eftates could not fubfiit at all without
laws, w^hereas kingdoms v/ere govern'd manj''
ages without them. The people of Athens, as
foon as they gave over kings, were forced to give
power to Draco firft, then to Solon to make them
-^^ laws." If we will believe him therefore, "where-
foever there is a king, or a man w^ho by having
power in his hands, is in the place of a king, there is
no need of law. He takes them all to be io wife,
iuft, and good, that they are laws to themfelves^
Leges viventes. This was certainly verified by the
whole fucceilion of the Caifars, the ten laft kings of
Pharamond's race, all the fucceiTors of Charles the
.great, and others that I am not willing to name^
but referring myfelf to hiflory, I defire all reafon-
able men to confider, whether the piety and tender
care that was natural to Caligula, Nero or Domitian,
was fuch a fecurity to the nations that lived under
them, as without law to be fufhcient for their pre-
fervation : for if the contrary appear to be true, and
that their government w^as a perpetual exercife of
rage, malice and madncfs. by which the w^orft of
men were armed v.dth power to defa'oy the befl, fo
that the empire could only be faved by their deflruc-
tion, 'tis moil: certain^ that mankind can never fall into
a condition which iiands more in need of laws to
protedl the innocent, than when fuch monfters reign
who endeavour their extirpation, and are too well
fui'iiifhed with means to accomplifli tlxeir deteftable

H 4 defigns*

104 DISCOURSES Chap. Ilf.

defigns. Without any prejudice therefore to the caufe
that I defend, I might confefs that all nations were
at the firft governed by kings, and that no laws were
impofed upon thofe kings, till they, or the fucceflbrs
of thofe who had been advanced for their virtues,
by falling into vice and corruption, did manifeftly
difcover the inconveniencies of depending upon their
will. Belides thefe, there are alfo children ^ women
and fools, that often come to the fucceffion of king-
doms, whofe weaknefs and ignorance ftands in as
great need of fupport and diredion, as the defperate
fury of the others can do of reftridion. And if
fome nations had been fo fottiih, not to forefee the
mifchief of leaving them to their will, others, or
the fame in fucceeding ages difcovering them, could
no more be obliged to continue in fo pernicious a folly,
than we are to live in that wretched barbarity in which
the Romans found our anceftors, when they firft
entred this ifland.

If any mian fay, that Filmer does not fpeak of
monfters, nor of children, women or fools, but of
wife, juft and good princes; I anfwer, that if there
be a right inherent in kings, as kings, of doing
what they pleafe^ and in thofe who are next in blood,
to fucceed them and inherit the fame, it muft belong
to all kings, and fuch as upon title of blood would
be kings. And as there is no family that may not,
and does not often produce fuch as I mentioned, it
muft alfo be acknowledged in them^ and that power
which is left to the wife, juft and good, upon a
fuppofition that they will not m.ake an ill ufe of it,
mull be devolved to thofe who will not or cannot
make a good one ; but will either malicioufly turn it
to the deftrudtion of thofe they ought to proted:, or
through weaknefs fuffer it to fall into the hands of
thofe that govern them, who are found by experience

to

Sea. 13. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 105

to be for the moft part the woril of all, moft apt to
ufe the hafeft arts, and to flatter the humours, and
foment the vices that are moft prevalent in v^eak and
vicious princes. Germanicus, Corbulo, Valerius
Afiaticus, Thrafeas, Soranus, Helvidius Prifcus,
Julius Agricola, and other excellent men lived in
the times of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero ;
but the power was put into the hands of Sejanus,
Macro, Tigellinus, and other villains like to them:
and I wilh there were not too many modern ex-
amples to fhew that weak and vicious princes will
never choofe fuch as fhall preferve nations from the
mifchiefs that would enfue upon their own incapaci-
ty or malice ; but that they m.uft be impofed upon
them by fome other power, or nations be ruined for
want of them. This impofition muft be by law or
by force. But as laws are made to keep things in good
order without the necefTity of having recourfe to
force, it woujd be a dangerous extravagance to arm
that prince \'vith force, which probably in a fliort
time muft be oppofed by force , and thofe who have
been guilty of this error, as the kingdoms of the eaft,
and the antient Roman empire, where no provifion
was made by law againft ill-governing princes, have
found no other remedy than to kill them, when by
extreme fufferings they v/ere driven beyond patience :
and this fell out fo often, that few of their princes
were obferved to die by a common death. But fince
the empire was tranfmitted to Germany, and the
emperors reftrain'd by laws, that nation has never
been brought to the odious extremities of fuffering
allmanner of indignities, or revenging them upon the
heads of princes. And if the pope had not difturb'd
them upon the account of religion, nor driven their
prirxes to difturb others, they might have palled

many

loS DISCOURSES Chap. Ill:

many ages without any civil diiTcntion, and all their
emperors might have lived happily, and died peace-
ably, as moft of them have done.

This might be fafficient to my purpofe : for if
all princes without diftinftion, whether good or bad,
wife or foolifli, young or old, fober or mad, cannot
be intruded v/ith an unlim^ited power ; and if the
power they have, ought to be limited by law, that
nations may not, with danger to themfelves as well
as to the prince, Iiave recourfc to the laft remedy,
this law muft be given to all, and the good can be
no otherwif. diftinguifhed from the bad, and the
wife from the fooliili, than by the obfervation or
violation of it. But I may juftiy go a ftep farther,
and affirm, that this law v/hich by reftraining the
lufts of the vicious and fcolifh, frequently preferves
them from the deftrudlion they would bring upon
themfelves or people, and fometimes upon both, is
an affiftance and diredtion to the wifeft and beft ; fo
that they alfo as well as the nations under them are
gainers by it. This will appear ftrange only to
thofe who know not * * * how difficult and infup-
" portable the government of great nations is," and
how unable the beft man is to bear it. And if it
furpafs the ftrength of the beft, it may eafily be de-
termined how ordinary men will behave themfelves
under it, or what ufe the worft will make of it. I
know there have been wife and good kings ; but
they had not an abfolute power, nor would have ac-
cepted it, tho' it had been offer'd : much lefs can I
believe that any of them would have tranfmitted
fuch a power to their pofterity, when none of them
could know any more than Solomon, whether his
fon v/ould be a wife man or a fool. But if the beft
might have delired, and had been able to bear it

* Qtiam grave & intokrandum fi: cunfla re gendi onu5. Tadf.

(tho*

Sea. 13. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 107

(tho*'Mofes by his ov/n confeffion was not that)
could be no reafon why it fliould be given to the
worft and weakeft, or thofe who probably will be
{o. Since the affarance that it will not be abufed
during the life of one man, is nothing to the con-
ftitution of a ftate which aims at perpetuity. And
no man knowing what men v/ill be, efpecially if
they come to the power by facceffion, which may
properly enough be called by chance, 'tis reafonably
to be feared they will be bad, and confequently ne-
ceilary fo to limit their power, that if they prove to
be fo, the commonwealth may not be deftroy'd,
which they were inftituted to preferve. The law
provides for this in leaving to the king a full and
ample power of doing as much good as his heart
can wiih, and in refiiraining his power fo, that if
he fhould depart from the duty of his office, the
nation may not perifh. This is a help to thofe who
are wife and good, by direfting them what they are
to do, more certainly than any one mxan's perfonal
judgment can do ; and no prejudice at all, lince no
fuch man did ever complain he was not fuffer'd to
do the evil which he would abhor if it were in his
power ; and is a moft neceffary curb to the fury of
bad princes, preventing them from bringing deftruc-
tion upon the people. Men are fo fubjed: to vices
and pafTicns, that they ftand in need of fom.e re-
flraint in every condition ; but moft efpecially when
they are in pov/er. The r.ige of a private man may
be pernicious to one or a few of his neighbours ;
but the fury of an unlimited prince would drive
whole nations into ruin : and thofe very men who
have lived modeftly when they had little power have
often ptoved the moft favage of all monfters, when
they thought nothing able to rcfift their rage. 'Tis

faid

joS DISCOURSES Chap, im

faid of Caligula, that no man^ver knew " * a bet-
*' ter fervant, nor a worfe mailer." The want of
reflraint made liim a beaft, who might have conti-
nued to be a man. And tho' I cannot fay, that our
law neceffarily admits the next in blood to the fuc-
ceiiion (for the contrary is proved) yet the facility of
our anceiiors, in receiving children, women, or fuch
men as were not more able than themfelves to bear
the weight of a crov/n, convinces me fully, tlaat
they had fo framed our laws, that even children,
women, or ill men, might either perform as much
as was neceffarily required of them, or be brought
to reafon if they tranfgreffed, and arrogated to them-
felves more than was allow 'd. For 'tis not to be
imagined, that a company of m^en fhould fo far de-
generate from their own nature, which is reafon, to
give up themfelves and their pofterity, with all
their concernments in the world, to depend upon the
will of a child, a u^oman, an ill man, or a fool.

If therefore laws are neceffary to popular ftates,
they are no lefs to monarchies -, or rather, that is
not a ftate or government which has them not : and
'tis no lefs impoffible for any to fubfift without
them, than for the body of a man to be, and per*-
form its functions without nerves and bones. And
if any people had ever been £0 foolifli to eftablifh
that which they called a government, without law.s
to fu'pport and regulate it, the impoffibility of fub-
iifting would evidence the madneis of the conftitu-
tion, and ought to deter all others from following
their example.

Tis no lefs incredible, that thofe nations which
rejefled kings, did put themfelves into the power
of one man, to prefcribe to them fuch laws as he

* Nee meliorem fervum^ nee dcteriorcm dominum.

Tc;c. Jn. L 6. c. 20.

4 plcafed.

SA I J. CONCERNING GOVERNiVIENT. lo^

pleafed. But the inftances alledgcd by our author
are evidently falfe. The Athenians were not with-
out laws when they had kings : iEgeus was fubjed:
to the laws, and did nothing of importance without
the confent of the people ; and Thefeus not being
able to pleafe them, died a baniihed man : Draco
and Solon * did not make, but propofe laws, and
they were of no force till they were eflablifhed by
the authority of the people. The Spartans dealt in
the fame manner with Lycurgus ; he invented their
laws, but the people made them : and when the
affembly of all the citizens had approved and fworn
to obferve them till his return from Crete, he re-
folved rather to die in a voluntary banifliment, than
by his return to abfolve them from the oath they had
taken. The Romans alfo had laws during the go-
vernment of their kings ; but not finding in them
that perfecftion they defired, the decemviri were
chofen to frame others, which yet were of no value
till they were paiTed by the people in the -f Comitia
Centuriata ; and being fo approved, they were efta-
blifhed. But this fanftion, to which every man,
whether magiftrate or private citizen, w^as fubjed:,
did no way bind the whole body of the people, who
ftill retained in themfelves the power of changing
both the matter and the form of their government,
as appears by their inftituting and abrogating kings,
confuls, dictators, tribunes with confular power,
and decemviri, when they thought good for the
commonwealth. And if they had this power, I
leave our author to fhew, why the like is not in
other nations.

* Plut. vit. Solon.
• -f- Ingenti hominum expe£latIone propofitis decern tabulis populum
ad concionera convocaruRt, &; quod bonuni, fauilum fa^lixque ilt re-
pub icce, ipfis, liberifque eorum eilet, iie ^- legere leges propoiitas
jullere. f. Liv. /. 3. c. 34,.

: S E C T.

no D I S C O U R S^E S Chap. Ill,

SECT. XIV.

Laws are not made by kings ^ not hecaiife they are
biijled in greate'r matters than doing jujlice^ but
becaufe nations will be governed by rule^ and not
arbitrarily,

OUR author purfuing the miftakes to which
he feems perpetually condemned, fays, that
*' when kings were either bufied in war, or dif-
" tradled with pubiick cares, fo that every private
*' man could not have accefs unto their perfons, to
" learn their wills and pleafures, then of neceflity
** were laws invented, that io every pai'ticular fub-
*' Jed: might find his prince's pleafure." I have
often heard that governments were eftablifhed for
the obtaining of juftice ; and if that be true, 'tis
hard to imagine what bufinefs a fupreme magiftrate
can have to divert him from accomplifliing the prin-
cipal end of his inftitution. And 'tis as commonly
faid, that this diftribution of juftice to a people, is
a work furpaiiing the ftrength of any one man.
* Jethro feems to have been a wife man, and 'tis
probable he thought Mofes to be fo alfo 5 but he
found the work of judging the people to be too
heavy for him, and therefore advifed him to leave
the judgment of caufes to others who fhould be
chofen for that purpofe ; v/bich advice Mofes ac-
cepted, and God approved. The governing power
was as infupportable to him as the judicial. He
dcfired rather to die than to bear fo great a burden ;
and God neither accufing him of floth or impati-
ence, gave him feventy affiftants. But if we may
believe our author, tlie powers judicial and legifla-
tive, that of judging as well as that of governing,

* Exod. xviii.

4 ' is

Seel. 14. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, n^

is not too much for any man, woman, or child
whatfoever : and that he ftands in no need, either
of God's ftatutes to dired him, or man's counfel
to affift him, unlefs it be when he is otherwife em-
ploy'd J and his will alone is fufficient for all. But
what if he be not bufied in greater matters, or dif-
traded with public cares ; is every prince capable of
this work ? Tho* Mofes had not found it too great
for him, or it fhould be granted that a man of ex-
cellent natural endowments, great wifdom, learnings
experience, induftry, and integrity might perform it,
is it certain that all thofe who happen to be born in
reigning families are fo ? If Mofes had the law of
God before his eyes, and could repair to God him-
felf for the application or explanation of it ; have
all princes the fameaffiflance? Do they all fpeak
with God face to face, or can they do what he did^
without the afliftance he had ? If all kings of ma-
ture years are of that perfedlion, are we affured that
none fhall die before his heir arrive to the fame ^ Or '
fhall he have the fame ripenefs of judgment in his
infancy ? If a child come to a crown, does that
immediately infufe the moft admirable endowments
and graces ? Have we any promife from heaven,,
that women fliall enjoy the fam.e prerogatives in
thofe countries where they are made capable of the
•fucceffion? Or does that law which renders them
capable, defend them, not only againft the frailty
of their own nature, but confer the moft fublime
virtues upon them ? But who knows not, that no
families do more frequently produce weak or ill
men, than the greateft ? and that which is worfe,
their greatnefs is a fnare to them -, [o that they who
in a low condition might have pafTed unregarded,
being advanced to the higheft, have often appeared
to be^ or became the worfl of all beafts s and they

who

112 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

who advance them are like to them : for if the
power be in the multitude, as our author is forced to
confefs (otherwife the Athenians and Romans could
not have given all, as he fays, nor a partj as I fay,
to Draco, Solon, or the decemviri) they muft be
beafts alfo, who ihould have given away their right
and liberty, in hopes of receiving juftice from fuch
as probably will neither underfland nor regard it, or
prote(!rtion from thofe who will not be able to help
themfelves, and exped: fuch virtue, wifdom, and
integrity fliould be, and for ever remain in the fa-
mily they fet up as was never known to continue in
any. If the power be not conferred upon them,
they have it not 3 and if they have it not, their
want of leifure to do juftice, cannot have been the
caufe for which laws are made ; and they cannot be
the lignification of their will, but are that to which
the prince owes obedience, as well as the meaneft
fubjefl. This is that which Bra(3:on calls " effe fub
lege," and fays, that *' Rex in regno fuperiores
habet Deum & legem." Fortefcue fays, the
kings of England cannot change the laws*: and in-
deed, they are fo far from having any fuch power,
that the judges fwear to have no regard to the king's
letters or commands, but if they receive any, to
proceed according to law, as if they had not been.
And the breach of this oath does not only bring a-
blemifh upon their reputation, but expofes them to
capital punifliments, as many of them have found.
'Tis not therefore the king that makes the law, but
the law that makes the king. It gives the rule for
fucceflion, making kingdoms fometimes hereditary,
and fometimes elective, and (more often than either
fmiply) hereditary under condition. In fome places
males only are capable of inheriting, in others fe-

* De laud, leg Angl. c, 9,

males

<c

Sea. 14. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 113

males are admitted. Where the monarchy is regu-
lar, as in Germany, England, Sec. the kings ean
neither make nor change laws : they are under the
law, and the law is not under them ; their letters
or commands are not to be regarded : in the admini-
flration of juftice, the queftion is not what pleafes
them, but what the law declares to be right, which
muft have its courfe, whether the king be bufy or
at leilure, whether he will or not. The king who
never dies, is always prefent in the fupreme courts,
and neither knows nor regards the pleafure of the
man that wears the crown. But left he by his
riches and power might have fome influence upon
judicial proceedings, the great charter that reca-
pitulates and acknowledges our antient inherent li-
berties, obliges him to fwear, that he will neither
fell-,^ delay, nor deny juftice to any man, according
to the laws of the land : which were ridiculous and
abfurd, if thofe laws were only the fignification of
his pleafure, or any way depended upon his will.
This charter having been confirmed by more than
thirty parliaments, all fucceeding kings are under the
obligation of the fame path, or muft renounce the
benefit they receive from our laws, which if they
do^ they will be found to be equal to every one of
us.

Our author, according to his cuftom, having laid
dowq a falfe propofition, goes about to juftify it by
falfe examples, as thofe of Draco, Solon, the de-
cemviri, and Mofes, of v/hom no one had the
power he attributes to them, and it were nothing to
us if they had. The Athenians and Romans, as
was faid before, were fo far from refigning the ab-
folute power without appeal to themfelves, that no-
thing done by their magiftrates was of any force,
till it was enaded by the people. And the power

Vol. IL I given

114 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

given to the decemviri, line provocatione^ was only
in private cafes, there being no fuperior magiftrate
then in being, to whom appeals could be made.
They were veiled v/ith the fame pov/et' the kings
and didators enjoy 'd, from whom there lay no ap-
peal, bat to the people, and always to them 3 as ap-
pears by thq cafe of Horatius in the time of Tullus
Hoftilius, that of * LVIarcus Fabius when Papirias
Curfor was diclator, and of -f- Nenius the tribune
during that of Q^ Fabius Maximus, all which

'I have cited already, and refer to them. There was
therefore a refervation of the fupreme power in the
people, notwithftanding the creation of magiftrates
without appeal j and as it Vv^as quietly exercifed in
making Grangers, or whom they pleafed kings, re-
ftrainlng the power of diftators to fix months, and
that of the decemviri to two years ; when the lafl
did, contrary to law^ endeavour by force to conti-

. nue their power, the people did by force deflroy it
and them.

The cafe of Mofes is yet more clear : he was the
moil humble and gentle of all men : he never raifed
Ills heart above his brethren, and commanded kings
to live in the fame modelty : he never defired the
people fliould depend upon his will : in giving laws
to them he fulfili'd the will of God, not his own ;
an.d thofe laws were not the fignification of his will,
but the will of God. They were the produdion of
God's wifdom and goodnefs, not the invention of
man ; given to purify the people, not to advance
rhe glory of cheir leader. He was not proud and
infolent, nor pleas'd with that oftentation of pomp,
to which fools give the name of majefty ; and who-
ever fo far exalts the power of a man, to make
nations depend upon his plealiii'e, does not only lay

* T. Liv.l I. j L. 3.

Sea. 14. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 115

a burden upon him, which neither Mofes, nor any-
other could ever bear, and evei-y wife man will al-
ways abhor, but with an impious fury, endeavours
to let up a government contrary to the laws of God,
prefumes to accufe him of want of wifdom, or
goodnefs to his own people, and to corred: his errors,
which is a w^ork fit to be undertaken by f jch as our
author.

From hence, as upon a folid foundation, he pro-
ceeds, and making ufe of king James's words, in-
fers, that kings are above the laws, becaufe he f©
teaches us. But he might have remembred, that
having affirmed the people could not judge of the
difputes that might happen between them and kings,
becaufe they muft not be judges in their own cafe,
'tis abfurd to make a king judge of a cafe fo nearly
concerning himfelf, in the decifion of which his
own paiTions and interefts may probably lead him
into errors. And if it be pretended that 1 do the
fame, in giving the judgment of thofe matters to
the people, the cafe is utterly diifereni:, both in the
nature and confequences. The king's judgment is
merely for himfelf; and if that were to take place,
all the paffions and vices that have mod power
upon men, would concur to corrupt it. He that is
fet up for the public good, can have no conteft with
the whole people whofe good he is to procure, un-
lefs he defie(5t from the end of his infdtution, and
fet up an intereft of his own in oppofition to if*
This is in its nature the highefc of all delinquencies 5
and if llich an one may be judge of his own crimes,
he is not only fure to avoid puniihment, but to ob-
tain all that he fought by them -, and the worfe he
is, the more violent v/ill his deflres be, to get all
the power into his hands, that I'le may gratify hiii
lulls, and execute his pernicious defigns. Cn the^

I 2 othet

ii6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

other fide, in a popular affembly, no man judges
for himfelf, otherwife than as his good is compre-
hended in that of the pubUc : nothing hurts him,
but what is prejudicialto the commonwealth: fuch
amongft them as may have received private injuries,
are fo far only confidered by others, as their fuffer-
ings may have influence upon the pubHc -, if they
be few, and the matters not great, others v/ill not
futFer their quiet to be difturbed by them ; if they
are many and grievous, the tyranny thereby appears
to be fo cruel, that the nation cannot fubfift, unlefs
it be corredled or fupprefs'd. Corruption of judg-
ment proceeds from private paffions, which in thefe
cafes never govern : and tho' a zeal for the public
good may pofTibly be mifguided, yet till it be fo, it
can never be capable of excefs. The lail; Tarquin,
and his lewd fon, exercifed their fury and luft in
the murders of the beft men in Rome, and the rape
of Lucretia. Appius Claudius was filled with the
like madnefs. Caligula and Nero were fo well
eftablifhed in the power of committing the worft
of villanies, that we do not hear of any man that
offered to defend himfelf, or woman that prefumed
to refufe them. If they had been judges in thefe
cafes, the utmoft of all villanies and mifchiefs had
been eftabliflied by law : but as long as the judg-
ment of thefe matters was in the people, no private
or corrupt paffion could take place. Lucius Brutus,
Valerius, Horatius and Virginius, with the people
that followed them, did not by the expulfion of the
kings, or the fuppreflion of the decemveri, affumc
to themfelves a power of committing rapes and
murders, nor any advantages beyond what their
equals might think they deferved by their virtues,
and fervices to the commonwealth ; nor had they
more credit than others for any other reafon, than

that

Sed. 14. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, iiy

that they fliewed themfeh^es moil forward in pro-
curmg the public good, and by their valour arid con-
dudl beft able to promote it.

Whatfoever happen'd after the overthrow of their
liberty, belongs not to my fubjed:, for there was
nothing of popularity in the judgments that were
made. One tyrant deftroy'd another; the fame
pa/fions and vices for the moft part reigned in both :
the laft was often as bad as his predecefTor whom
'he had overthrown ; and one was fometimes ap-
proved by the people for no other reafon, than that
it was thought impoffible for him to be worfe than
he who was in pofTeffion of the power. But if one
inftance can be of force amongft an infinite number
of various accidents, the words of Valerius Afia-
ticus, who by wifhing he had been the man that
had kill'd Caligula, did in a moment pacify the fury
of the foldiers who were looking for thofe that had
done it, fhew, that as long as men retain any thing
of that reafon which is truly their nature, they
never fail of judging rightly of virtue and vice ;
whereas violent and ill princes have always done the
contrary, and even the beft do often defied: from the
rules of juftice, as appears not only by the ex-
amples of Edward the firft and third, who were
brought to confefs it, but even thofe of David and
Solomon.

Moreover to fliew that the decifion of thefe con-
trover fies cannot belong to any king, but to the
people, we are only to confider, that as kings and
all other magiftrates, whether fupreme or fubordi-
mte, are conftituted only for the good of the people,
the people only can be fit to judge whether the end
be accomplifhed. A phyfician does not exercife his
art for himfelf, but for his patients; and when I am,
or think I fhall be fick, I fend for him of whom I

I 3 hav«

%

ii8 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

have the beft opinion, that he may help me to re-
cover, or prefer ve my health 5 but I lay him afide
if I iind him to.be negligent, ignorant, or unfaithful ;
and it v^^ouid be ridiculous for him to fay, I make
my felf judge in my own cafe, for I only, or fuch as
I (hall confult, am fit to be judge of it. He may be
treacherous, and thro' corruption or malice endeavour
to Doifon me or have other defedls that render him
unfit to be trufted : but I cannot by any corrupt
paffion be ledvv^ilfliUy todo him injuftice, and if Imif-
take, 'tis only to my own hurt. The like may be faid
of lawyers, ftewards, pilots, andgenerally of allthat
do not aft for themfelves, but for thofe who employ
them. And if a com.pany going to the Indies,
fhould find that their pilot was m.ad, drunk, or
treacherous, they whofe lives and goods are con-
cerned, can only be fit to judge, whether he ought
to be trufred or not, fince he cannot have a right to
deftroy thofe he was chofen to preferve • and they
cannot be thought to judge perverfely, becaufe they
have nothing to lead them but an opinion of truth,
and cannot err but to their own prejudice. In the like
manner, not only Solon and Draco, but Romulus,
Numa, Hoftilius, the confuls, diclators, and de-
cemviri, were not diftinguilhed from od:iers, that it
might be well with them, '' fed ut bonum, f^Hx,
** fauftumque fit populo Romano," but that the
profperity and happmefs of the people might be pro-
cured ; which being the thing always intended, it
were abfurd to refer the judgment of the performance
to him who is fufpecfted of a defign to overthrow it,
and v/hofe pallions, interefls, and vices, if he has
any, lead him that way. If king James faid any
thing contrary to this, he might be anfwered with
{erne of his own words 3 " I was," fays he, " fworn

*' to

Sea. r5. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 119

*« to maintain the laws of the land, and therefore
*' hadbeenperjuredif Ihadbro'en them*." It mav
alfo be prefumed, he had not forgotten what his
mafter Buchanan had taught in the books he wrote
chiefly for his inftrudtion^j-, that the violation of the
laws of Scotland could not have been io fatal to moft
of his predecefTors, kingsof that country (nor as lie
himfelf had made them to his mother) if kings as
kings were above them j.

SEC T. XV.

,A general prefumption that Jungs .^ivill govern we!J^
is not a fufficient jecurity to the people,

BUT/' fays our author, '^ yet will they rule
their fubjedls by the law; and a king govern-
ing in a fettled kingdom, leaves to be a king;,
^' and de-eenerates into a tyrant, fo foon as he ceafes
*' to rule according; unto his laws: vet where he fees
'* them rigorous or doubtfnl, he may mitigate or
*' interpret." This is therefore an effecl of their
goodnels : they are above laws, but wVA rule by law,
we have Filmer's word for it. But I know not how
nations can be aiTured their princes will always be fo
good: goodnefs is always accompanied with wifdom,
and I do not find thofe admirable qualities to be
generally inherent or entail'd upon fupreme magil-
trates. They do not feem to be all alike, and we
have not hitherto found them all to live in the fame
•fpirit and principle. I can fee no reiemblajice be-
tween Mofes and Caligula, Jofliua and Claudius,
Gideon and Nero, Samfon and Vitellius, Sanmel and
Otho, David and Domitian ; nor indeed between
the beft of thefe and their own children. If the

* " Speech in ftar chamber, 1616." f Hill S,ot.
J De jure rcg. apud Scot,

I 4 fons

X20 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

fons of Mofes and Jofliua had been like to them in
wifdom, valour and integrity, 'tis probable they had
been chofen to fucceed them ; if they were not,
the like is lefs to be prefumed of others. No man
has yet obferved the moderation of Gideon to have
been in Abimelech ; the piety of Eli in Hophni and
Phineas ; the purity and integrity of Samuel in Joel
and Abiah, nor the wifdom of Solomon in Rehobo-
am. And if there was fo vaft a difference between
them and their children, who doubtlefs were in-
ftrudted by thofe excellent men in the ways of wif-
dom and juftice, as well by precept as example, wxre
it not madnefs to be confident, that they who have
neither precept nor good example to guide them,
but on the contrary are educated in an utter ignorance
or abhorrence of all virtue, will always be ]u{i and
good ; or to put the whole power into the hands of
every man, womaU;, or child that ihall be born in
governing families, upon a fuppofition, that a thing
will happen, which never did -, or that the w^eakeil
and worft will perform all that can be hoped, and
was feldom accomplifhed by the wifeft and befl,
expofing whole nations to be deftroy'd w^ithout reme-
dy, if they do it not? And if this be madnefs in all
extremity, 'tis to be prefumed that nations never
intended any fuch thing, unlefs our author prove that
all nations have been mad from the beginning, and
mufi: always continue to be fo. To cure this, he
fays, " They degenerate into tyrants ;" and if he
meant as he fpeaks, it would be enough. For a
king cannot degenerate into a tyrant by departing from
that law, which is only the produ6l of his own will.
But if he dp degenerate, it muft be by departing
from that which does not depend upon his will, and
is a rule prefcribed by a pov^'cr that is above him.
This indeed is the dodrine of Bra6ton, w^ho having

. faid

Sea. 15- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 121

fald that the power of the king is the power of.
the law, becaufe the law makes him king, adds,
cc ^ That if he do injaftice, he ceafes to be king,
*^ degenerates into a tyrant, and becomes the vice-
^' gerent of the devil." But I hope this muft be
underftood with temperament, and a due confide-
ration of human frailty, fo as to mean only thofe
injuries that are extreme ; for other wife he would
terribly (hake all the crowns of the world.

But left our author fliould be thought once la
his life to have dealt fincerely, and fpoken truth,
the next lines lliew the fraud of his laft alTertion, by
giving to the prince a power of '' mitigating or in-
" terpreting the laws that he fees to be rigorous or
'' doubtful." But as he cannot degenerate into a
tyrant by departing from the law which proceeds
from his own will, fo he cannot mitigate or inter-
pret that which proceeds from a fuperior power,
unlefs the right of mitigating or interpreting be con-
ferred upon him by the fame. For as all wife men
confefs that '' -f- none can abrogate but thgfe who,
" may inftltute," and that all mitigation andinter*
pretation varying from the true ftnfc is an alteration,
that alteration is an abrogation 3 for J whatfoever is
changed is diffolved, and therefore the power of
mitigating is infeparable from that of inftituting.
This is fufficiently evidenced by Henry the eighth's
anfwer to the fpeech made to him by the fpeaker of
the houfe of commons 1545, in which he, tho*
one of the moft violent princes we ever had, con-
feffes the parliament to be the law-makers, and that
an obligation lay upon him rightly to ufe the power
with which he v/as entrufted. The right therefore -

* Quia fi faciat injuriam definit effe rex, & degenerat in tvjannum^
& fit vicarius diaboli. Brai^.

f Cujus eft inftituere, ejus eft abrogare.
X Quiccjuid mutatur diftblvitur, intern -ergo.

of

122 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

sof altering being infeparable from that of making
laws, the one being in the parliament, the other
muft be fo alio. Fortefcue fays plainly, the king
cannot change any law : Magna Charta cafts all
upon * the laws of the land and cuftoms of Eng-
land : but to fay that the king can by his will make
that to be a cuflom or an antient law, which is not,
or that not to be fo which is, is moft ablurd. He
mnft therefore take the laws and cudoms as he
finds them, and can neither detra6l from, nor add
any thing to them. The ways are prefcribed as
well as the end. Judgments are given by equals,
per pares. The judges who may be aflifling to thofe,
are fworn to proceed according to law, and not to
regard the king's letters or commands. The doubt-
ful cafes are referred, and to be referred to the parlia-
ment, as in the ftatute of 3 5 Edw. III. concerning trea-
fons; but never to the king. The law intending that
thefe parliaments Ihould be annual, and leaving to
the king a power of calling them more often, if
occaiion require, takes away all pretence of a ne-
ceffity that there fliould be any other power to in-
terpret or mitigate laws. For 'tis not to imagined
that there iliould be fuch a peftilent evil in any anti-
ent law, cuflom, or later a6l of parliament, which
being on the fudden difcover'd may not without any
great prejudice continue for forty days, till a parlia-
ixient may be called -, whereas the force and effence
of all laws would be fubverted, if under colour of
mitigating and interpreting, the power of altering
were allow'd to kings, who often want the inclina-
tion, and for the moft part the capacity of doing it
rightly. 'Tis not therefore upon the uncertain will
or underflanding of a prince, that the fafety of a
nation ought to depend. He is fometimes a child,

* Leges terrae & confuetudmes AnglicC,

and

Sea. 15. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 123

and fometimes ovcrburden'd with years. Some are
weak, negligent, flothiul, fool ifh or vicious : others,
who may have fomething of rectitude in their in-
tentions, and naturally are not incapable of doing
well, are drawn out of the right w-ay by thefubtil-
ty of ill men who gain credit with them. That
rule muft alv/ays be uncertain, and fubjed: to be
diftorted, wd:iich depends upon the fancy of fuch a
man. He always fluctuates, and every pafiion that
arifes in his mind, or is infufed by otliers, diforders
him. The good of a people ouriit to be eflabliflied
upon a more folid foundation. For this reafon the
law is eftabhihed, v/hich no paffion can difturb.
'Tis void of defire and fear, lufl and anc'er. 'Tis
Mens fine affe(flu, written reafon, retaining fome
m.eafure of the divine perfedtion.. It does not enjoin
that which pleafes a weak, frail man, but without
any regard to perfons commands that which is good,
and punifhes evil in all, w^hether rich or poor, high
or low. 'Tis deaf, inexorable, inflexible.

By this means every man knows when he is fafe
or in danger, becaufe he knows whether he has
done good or evil. But if all depended upon the
will of a m^an, the word would be often the moft
fafe, and the befl: in the greateft hazard : flaves
would be often advanced, the crood and the brave

fcorn'd and neglefed. The mofl generous nations
have above all thinp:s foueht to avoid this evil : and
the virtue, wifdom and generofity of each may be
difcern'd by the right fixing of the rule that mufl:
be the guide of every man's life, and fo conflitut-
ing their magiftracy that it may be duly obferved.
S"Mch as have attained to this perfedlon, have always
flourifhed in virtue and happinefs : They are, as
Ariftotle fays, governed by God^ rather than by

men.

124 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill-

men, whilfl thofe who fubjedled themfelves to the
will of a man were governed by a beaft.

This being fo, our author's next claufe, that
*' tho' a king do frame all his aflions to be accord-
ing unto law, yet he is not bound thereunto,
but as his good will, and for good example, or fo
*"' far forth as the general law for the fafety of the
" commonwealth doth naturally bind him,'* is
wholly impertinent. For if the king who governs not
according to law, degenerates into a tyrant, he is
obliged to frame his actions according to law, or not
to be a king ; for a tyrant is none, but as contrary to
him, as the worft of men is to the beft. But if
thefe obligations were untied, we may eafily guefs
what fecurity our author's word can be to us, that
the king of his own good will, ^nd for a good
example, will framfe his adlions according to the
laws ; when experience inftrudts us, that notwith-
ftanding the ftrideft laws, and moft exquifite con-
ftitutions, that men of the beft abilities in the world
could ever invent to reftrain the irregular appetites of
thofe in power, with the dreadful examples of ven-
geance taken againft fuch as would not be reftrained,
they have frequently broken out ; and the moft
powerful have for the moft part no otherwife
diftinguifhed themfelves from the reft of men, than
by the enormity of their vices, and being the moft
forward in leading others to all manner of crimes by
their example.

SECT.

Sea, i6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 125

SECT. XVI.

^he obfervation of the laws of nature is ahfurdly
expeBedfrom tyrants^ whofet themfehes up agai?iji
all laws r and he that fubjeEls kings to no other
law than what is common to tyrants^ dejiroys their
being.

OU R author's laft claufe acknowledging kings
to be bound by a general law to provide for
the fafety of the people, would be fufficient for my
purpofe if it were fincere ; for municipal laws do
only iliew how that {hould be performed : and if
the king by departing from that rule degenerates, as
he fays, into a tyrant, 'tis eafily determined what
ought then to be done by the people. But his whole
book being a heap of contradidions and frauds, we
can rely upon nothing that he fays : and his follow-
ing words, which under the fame law comprehend
both kings and tyrants, fliew that he intends kings
ihould be no otherwife obliged than tyrants, which
is, not at all. '' By this means,'' fays he, " are all
kings, even tyrants and conquerors, bound to
preferve the lands, goods, liberties and lives of
all their fubjeds, not by any municipal law of the
land, fo much as by the natural law of a father,
which obligeth them to ratify the adls of their
forefathers and predeceffors in things neceflary for
the public good of their fubjeds." If he be
therefore in the right, tyrants and conquerors are
kings and fathers. The words that have been al-
ways thought to comprehend the moft irreconcileable
contrariety, the one expreffing the moft tender love
and care, evidently teftified by the greateft obligati-
ons conferred upon thofe that are under it • the other
the utmoil of all injuries that can be offer *d to men,

fignify

(C
C(

<c

126 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

fignify tlie fame thing : there is no difference between
a magiftrate who is what he is by law, and a public
enemy, who by force or fraud fets himfelf up againft
all law: and what he faid before, that kings degene-
rated into tyrants, fignifies nothing, for tyrants alfo
are kings.

His next words are no lefs incomprehenfible; for
neither king nor tyrant can be obliged to preferve the
lands, goods and liberties of their fubjeds if they
have none. But as liberty confiils only in being fub^
je6t to no man's will, and nothing denotes a flave but
a dependence upon the will of another ; if there be
no other law in a kingdom than the will of a prince,
there is no fuch thing as liberty. Property alfo is
an appendage to liberty 5 and 'tis as imp>offible for a
man to have a riglit to lands or goods, if he has no
liberty, and enjoys his life only at the pleafure of
another, as it is to enjoy either when he is deprived
of them. He therefore who fays kings and tyrants
are bound to preferve their fubjeds lands, liberties,
goods and lives, and yet lays for a foundation, that
laws are no more than the fignifications of their plea-
fure, feeks to delude the world with \vords which
fignify nothing.

The vanity of thefe whimfeys will farther appear,
if it be confidered, that as kings are kings by law,
and tyrants are tyrants by overthrowing the law, they,
are moil abfurdly joined together* and 'tis not more
ridiculous to fct him above the law, who is what he
is by the law, than to expect the obfervation of the
laws that enjoin the prefervation of the lands, liber-
ties, goods and lives of the people, from one who by
fraud or violence m.akes himfelf mafter of all, that
he may be reftrain'd by no lav^', and is what he is by
fubverting all law.

BefideSj,

Sea. 1 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 127

BefideSj if the fafety of the people be the fupreme
law, and this fafety extend to, and conlift in the
prefervation of their Hberties, goods, lands and lives,
that law muft neceffarily be the root and beginning,
as well as the end and limit of all magiflratical power,
and all laws muft be fubfervient and fubordinate to it.
The queftion will not then be what pleafes the king,
but what is good for the people; not what conduces
to his profit or glory, but v/hat beft fecures tiie
liberties he is bound to preferve : he does not there-
fore reign for himfeif, but for the people, he is not
tlie mafter, but the fervant of the commonwealth ;
and the utmoft extent of his prerogative is to be able
to do more good than any private man. If this be
his work and duty, 'tis eafily {cen whether he is to
judge of his own performance, or they by whom
and for whom he reigns 5 and whether in order to
this he be to give laws, or to receive them. 'Tis
ordinarily faid in France, *' II faut que chacun foit
" fervi a fa mode ;" every man's bufinefs muft be
done according to his own mind : and if this be true
in particular perfons, 'tis more plainly fo in whole
nations. Many eyes fee more than one : the col-
lecSed wifdom of a people much furpaftes that of a
iingle perfon , and tho' he fhould truly feek that
which is beft, 'tis not probable he would fo eafily
find it, as the body of a nation, or the principal men
chofen to reprefent the v/hole. This may be faid
with juftice of the beft and wifeft princes that ever
were : but another Ian2:ua2:e is to be ufed when we

' DO

fpeak of thofe who may fucceed^, and who very often
through the defecfts of age, perfon, or fex, are
neither fit to judge of other mens afi^airSj nor of
their own ; and are fo far from being capable of the
higheft concernments relating to the lafety of whole

2 nations.

128 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

nations, that the moft trivial cannot reafonably be
referred to them.

There are few men (except fuch as are hke Fil- i
mer, who by bidding defiance to the laws of God
and man, feemsto declare war againft both) whom
I would not truft to determine whether a people,
that can never fall into nonage or dotage, and can
never fail of having men of wifdom and virtue
amongft them, be not more fit to judge in their
own perfons, or by reprefentatives, what conduces
to their own good, than one who at a venture may
be born in a certain family, and who, befides his
own infirmities, paffions, vices, or interefts, is con-
tinually furrounded by fuch as endeavour to divert
him from the ways of truth and juftice. And if no
reafonable man dare prefer the latter before the for- "
mer, we muft rely upon the laws made by our fore-
fathers, and interpreted by the nation, and not upon
the will of a man.

'Tis in vain to fay that a wife and good council
may fupply the defeats, or corred: the vices of a
young, foolifli, or ill difpofed king. For Filmer
denies that a king, whatever he be without excep-
tion,^ (for he attributes profound wifdom to all)
is obliged to follow the advice of his council ; and
even he would hardly have had the impudence
to fay, that good council given to a foolifh or wick-
ed prince were of any value, unlefs he Vv^ere oblig-
ed to follow it. This council muft be chofen by
him, or impofed upon him : if it be impofed upon
him, it muft be by a power that is above him,
which he fays cannot be. If chofen by him who
is weak, foolifti, or wicked, it can never be good j I
becaufe fuch virtue and wifdom is required to dif- ■
cern and choofe a fev/ good and wife men, from a
multitude of foolifti and bad, as he has not. And

It

Se6l. 1 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 12

it will generally fall out, that he will take for his
counfellors rather thofe he believes to be addide^ to
his perfon or interefts, than fuch as are fitly qualifi-
ed to perform the duty of their places. But if he
fliould by chance, or contrary to his intentions,
make choice of fome good and wife men, the mat-
ter would not be much mended, for they v/ill cer-
tainly differ in opinion from the worft. And tho*
the prince flioulcl intend well, of which there is no
alTurance ; nor any reafon to put fo great a power
into his hands if there be none, 'tis almoll impofli-
ble for him to avoid the fnares that will be laid to
feduce him. I know not how to put a better face
upon this matter ; for if I examine rather what is
probable than poilible, foolifli or ill princes w^ill
never chufe fuch as are wife and good -, but favour-
ing thofe who are mod like to themfelves, will prefer
fuch as fecond their vices, humours, and perfonal
interefts, and by fo doing will rather fortify and
rivet the evils that are brought upon the nation
through their defedls, than cure them. This was
i evident in Rehoboam : he had good counfel, but
he w^ould not hearken to it. We know too many
of the fame fort ; and tho' it were not im.pofiible (as
Macchiavelli fays it is) for a weak prince to receive
any benefit from a good council, we m.ay certainly
conclude, that a people can never expect any good
from a council chofen by one w^ho is wxalv or
vicious.

If a council be impofed upon him, and he be
obliged to follow their advice, it mufl be impofed
by a power that is above him ; his will therefore is
not a law, but muft be regulated by the law : the
monarchy is not above the iaw; and if we will be-
lieve our author, 'tis no monarchy, becaufe the mo-
narch has not bis will, and perhaps he fays true.
Vol. II. K For

I3Q DISCOURSES Chap. IK.

For if that be not an Ariflocracy, where thofe that
are, or are reputed to be the beft do govern, then
that is certainly a mixed jflate, in which the will of
one man does not prevail. But if princes are not
obliged by the law, all that is founded upon that
fuppofition falls to the ground : they will always
follow their own humours, or the fuggeftions of
thofe who fecond them. Tiberius hearkned to none
but Chaldeans, or the minifters of his impurities
and cruelties : Claudius was governed by Haves,
and the profligate ftrumpets his wives. There
were many wife and good men in the fenate during
the reigns of Caligula, Nero and Domitian -, but
inftead of following their counfel, they endeavour'd
to deftroy them all, left they iliould head the people
againft them ; and fuch princes as refemble them
will always follow the like courfes.

If I often repeat thefe hateful names, 'tis not for
w^ant of frefher examples of the fame nature -, but
Ichoofe fuch as mankind has univerfally condemn'd,
againft whom I have no other caufe of hatred than
what is common to all thofe who have any love to
virtue, and which can have no other relation to the
controverfies of later ages, than what may flow
from the fimilitude of their caufes, rather than fuch
as are too well known to us, and which every man,
according to the meafure of his experience, may
call to mind in reading thefe. I may aUb add, that
as nothing is to be received as a general maxim,
which is not generally true, I need no more to over-
throw fuch as Filmer propofes, than to prove how
frequently they have been found falfe, and what
defperate mifchiefs have been brought upon t!ie
world as often as they have been pradtifed, and ex-
ceflive powers put into the hands of fuch as had

neither

Sea. i6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 131
neither inclination nor ability to make a good ufe
of them.

1. But if the fafety of nations be the end for
which governments are inftitutcd, fuch as take upon
them to govern, by what title foever, are by the
law of nature bound to procure it ; and in order to
this, to preferve the lives, lands, liberties and goods
of every one of their fubjedts : and he that upon
any title whatfoever pretends, affumes, or exer-
cifes a power of difpofing of them according to
his will, violates the laws of nature in the highefl
degree.

2. If all princes are obliged by the law of nature
to preferve the lands, goods, lives and liberties of
their fubjc6ts, thofe fubjedts have by the law of na-
ture a right to their liberties, lands, goods, &c. and
cannot depend upon the will of any man, for that
dependance deftroys liberty, &c.

3 . Ill men will not, and weak men cannot pro-
vide for the fafety of the people ; nay the work is
of fuch extreme difficulty, that the greateft and
wifeft men that have been in the world are not able
by themfelves to perform it ; and the affiftance of
counfel is of no ufe unlefs princes are obliged to fol-
low it. There muft be therefore a power in every
flate to reftrain the ill, and to inflruct weak princes
by obliging them to follow the counfels given, elfe
the ends of government cannot be accompiiflied, nor
the rights of a nation preferved.

All this being no more than is faid by our author,
or neceffarily to be deduced from his propofitions,
one would think he were become as good a com-
monwealth's- man as Cato ; but the waflied Avine
will return to the m.ire. He overthrows all by a
prepofterous conjunction of the rights of kings which
are juft and by law, v/ith thofe of tyrants which are

K z utterly

cc

,32 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

Utterly againft law ; and gives the facred and gentle
"ame of father to thofe beafls, who by their actions
declare themfelves enemies not only to all law and
juftice, but to mankind that cannot fubfift without
them. This requires no other proof, than to exa-
mine whether Attila or Tamerlane did well deferve
to be called fathers of the countries they deftroy'd.
The firft of thefe was ufually called the fcourge of
God, and he gloried in the name. The other being
reproved for the deteftable cruelties he exercifed,
made anfwer, *^ * You fpeak to me as to a man ^
I am not a man, but the fcourge of God and
plague of mankind/' This is certainly fweet and
gentle language, favouring much of a fatherly ten-
dernefs : there is no doubt that thofe who ufe it will -^
provide for the fafety of the nations under them, and
the prefer vation of the laws of nature is rightly re-
ferred to them ', and 'tis very probable, that they
who came to burn the countries, and deftrov the
nations that fell under their power, {hould make it
their bufinefs to preferve them, and look upon the
former governors " as their fathers, whofe ads they
*' v/ere obliged to confirm,'* tho' they feldom at-
tained to the dominion by any other means than the
llaughter of them and their families.

But If the enmity be not againft the nation, and
the caufe of the war be only for dominion againft
the ruling perfon or fam.ily, as that of Baafha againft
the houfe of Jeroboam, of Zimri againft that of
Baafha, of Omri againft Zimri, .and Jehu againft
Joram, the profecution of it is a ftrange way of be-
coming the ion of the perfon deftroyed. And Fil-
mer alone is fubtil enough to difcover, that Jehu by
extinguiihing the houfe of Ahab, drew an obliga-
tion upon himfelf, of looking on him as his father,

•* Vlt. Tamerl. hifl. Thiinn.

4 and

ill
"I

Scd.ie. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 1^3

and confirming his ads. If this be true, Mofeswas
obliged to confirm the ads of the kings of the
Amalekites, Moabites and Amorites that he de-
ftroy'd ; the fame duty lay upon Jofliua, in relation
to the Canaanites : but 'tis not fo eafily decided, to
which of them he did owe that deference ; for the
fame could not be due to all, and 'tis hard to believe,
that by killing above thirty kings, he fhould purchafe
to himfelf fo many fathers^ and the like may be faid
of divers others.

Moreover, there is a fort of tyrant who has no
father, as Agathocles, Dionyfius, C^far, and
generally all thofe who fubvert the liberties of their
*>own country. And if they flood obliged to look
upon the former magiftrates as their predeceflbrs,
and to confirm their ads, the firft fliould have been
•to give imipunity and reward to any that would
kill them, it having been a fundamental maxim in
thofe ftates, that any man might kill a tyrant ^\

This being in all refpeds ridiculous and abfurd,
■'tis evident that our author, who by propofing fuch
a falfe fecurity to nations for their liberties, endea-
vours to betray them, is not lefs treacherous to kings,
when under a pretence of defending their rights,
he makes them to be the fame with thofe of tyrants,
who are known to have none (and are tyrants becaufe
they have none) and gives no othtr hopes to nations
of being preferved by the kings they fet up for that

"jj end, than what upon the fame account may be
expeded from tyrants, whom all wife men have ever
abhorr'd, and affirmed to have been " produced to
" bring deftrudion upon the world 'f" and whofe

! lives have verified the fentence.

* Uniculquelicere tyrannum occidere,
f In generis humani e.\itium natos.

K 7 This

134 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

This is truly to depofe and abolifli kings, by
abolifhing that by which and for which they are fo.
The greatnefs of their power, riches, ftate, and
the pleafures that accompany them cannot but create
enemies. Some will envy that which is accounted
happinefs ; others may difiike the ufe they make of
their power : fome may be unjuilly exafperated by
the beft of their actions- when thev find themfelves
incommoded by them ; others may be too fevere
judges of flight mifcarriages. Tbefe things may
reafonably temper the joys of thofe who delight
moft in the advantages of crowns. But the worft
and moft dangerous of all their enemies are thefe
accurfed fycophants, who by making thofe that
ought to be the beft of men, like to the worft,
deftroy their being ; and by perfuading the world .
they aim at the fame things, and are bound to no j.
other rule than is common to all tyrants, give a fair
pretence to ill men to fay, they are all of one kind, ji
And if this fhould be received for truth, even they
who think the mifcarriages of their governors may
be eaiily redreffed, and deiire no more, would be
the moft fierce in procuring the deftrudion of
that which is naught in principle, and cannot be
corrected.

SECT. XVIL

Kings cannot he the interpreters of the oaths ihcj

take.

OUR author's book is fo full of abfardities and
contradidions, that it would be a rope of
fand, if a continued feries of frauds did not, like a
ftring of poifons running through the whole, give it
fome confiftence with it felf, and fhew it to be the
w^ork of one and the fame hand. After having
3 endeavoured

Sea. 17. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 135

endeavoured to fubvert the laws of God, nature>
and nations, mofl efpecially our own, by abufing the
fcriptures, falfly alledging the authority of many good
writers, and feeking to obtrude upon mankind an
univerfal law, that would take from every nation the
right of conftituting fuch governments within them-
felves as feem moft convenient for them, and giving
rules for the adminlftration of fuch as they had
eftabli filed, he gives us a full view of his religion
and morals, by deftroying the force of the oath
taken by our kings at their coronation. " Others,**
fays he, *^ affirm that although laws of themfelves
do not bind kings, yet the oaths of kings at their
coronation tie them to keep all the laws of their
*' kingdoms. How far this is true, let us but ex-
'^ amine the oath of the kings of England at their
" coronation, the words whereof are thefe. Art
thou pleafed to caufe to be adminiftred in all thy
judgments, indifferent and upright juftice, and to
ufe difcretion with mercy and verity ? Art thou
pleafed that our upright laws and cuftoms be ob-
served, and doff thou promife that thofe fliall be
protected and maintained by thee ? &c." To
which the king " anfwers in the affirmative, being
firfl: demanded by the archbifhop of Canterbury,
plcafeth it you to confirm and obferve the laws
and cuftoms of the antient times, granted from
God by juft and devout kings unto the Englifh
nation, by oath unto the faid people, efpecially
'^ the laws, liberties and cuftoms granted unto the
" clergy and laity by the famous king Edward ?"
From this he infers, that the king " is not to ob-
" ferve all laws, but fuch as are upright, becaufe
** he finds evil lav/s mentioned in the oath of
*' Richard the li. which he fwears to abolifti: Now
" what laws are upright and what evil, who fliail

K 4 ^ '' judge

C(
(C
(C

cc

(C

<c

cc
cc

<c
<c
cc

(C

€C

<c

cc
cc
cc

136 DISCOURSES Chap. IH

** judge but the king ? &c. So that in efifed: the
*f king doth fwear to keep no laws but fuch as in his
*' judgment are upright, &c. And if he did jftridlly
*' fwear to obferve all laA^s, he could not without
*' perjury give his confent to the repealing or abro-
" gating of any ftatute by a6l of parliament, &c."
And again, '' But let it be fuppofed for truth, that
kings do fwear to obferve all laws of their king-
doms ; yet no man can think it reafon, that the
kings fiiould be more bound by their voluntary
oaths than common perfons : now if a private
perfon make a contract, either with oath or with-
out oath, he is no farther bound than the equity
*^ and juflice of the contra6l ties him ; for a man
" may have relief againfl an unreafonable and unjuft
" promife, if either deceit or error, force or fear
*^ induced him thereunto : or if it be hurtful or
^^ grievous in the performance, iince the law in
** many cafes gives the king a prerogative above
*- common perfons." Led I fliould be thought
to infid upon fmiall advantages, I will not oblige any
man to (Ivtw w^here Filmer found this oath, nor
obferve the faults com^mitted in the tranflation ; but
notwithfranding his falfereprefentation, I find enough
for my purpofe, and intend to take it in his own
words. Bat firil I fhall take leave to remark, that
thofe who for private interefts addid: them.felves to
the perfonal fervice of princes, tho' to the ruin of
their country, find it impofiible to perfuade man-
• kind that kings may govern as they pleafe, when
all men know there are laws to dire(5l and reftrain
them, unlefs they can make men believe they have
their powxr from an univerfal and fuperior law ; or
.that princes can attempt to diifolve the obligations
laid upon them by the laws, which they fo folemnly '

fwear

Sea. 1 7- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 137

fwear to obferve, without rendring themfelves de-
teftable to God and man, and fubjed: to the reveng-
ing hands of both, unlefs they can invaUdate thole
oaths. Mr. Hobbes ^' I think was the firft, who
very Ingenioufly contrived a compendious way of
juftifying the moil abominable perjuries, and all the
mifchiefs enfuing thereupon, by pretending, that as
the king's oath is made to the people, the people may
abfolve him from the obligation ; and that the
people having conferred upon him all the power
they had, he can do all that they could : he can
therefore abfolve himfelf, and is adually free, fince
he is fo when he pleafes. This is only falfe in the
minor: for the people not having conferred upon
him all, but only a part of their power, that of
abfolving him remains in themfelves, otherwife they
would never have obliged him to take the oath. He
cannot therefore abfolve himfelf. The pope finds a
help for this, and as Chrlft^s vicar pretends the
power of abfolution to be in him, and exercifed it
in abfolving king John. But our author defpairing
to impofe either of thefe upon our age and nation,
with more impudence and lefs wit, would enervate
all coronation- oaths by fubje<fl:ing them to the dif-
cretion of the taker ; whereas all m.en have hitherto
thought their force to confift in the declared fenfe of
thofe who give them. This dodlrine is fo new, that
it furpaffes the fubtilty of the fchoolmen, v/ho, as
an ingenious perfon faid of them, had minced oaths
fo fine, that a million of them, as well as angels,
may iland upon the point of a needle 5 and were
never yet equalled but by the Jefuits, who have
overthrown them by mental refervations, which is fo
clearly demonftrated from their books, that it cannot
be denied, but fo horrible^ that even thofe of their

* Lib. de Give.

own

13S DISCOURSES Chap. III.

own order who have the Icafl: fpark of common
honefty condemn the practice. And one of them,
being a gentleman of a good family, told me, he
would go the next day and take all the oaths that
fliould be ofFer'd, if he could fatisfy his confcience
in ufing any manner of equivocation or mental refer-
vation ; or that he might put any other fenfe upon
them, than he knew to be intended by thofe who
offered them. And if our author's confcience were
not more corrupted than that of the Jefuit, who had
lived fifty years under the v/orft difcipline that I think
ever was in the world, I would afxC him ferioufly,
if he truly believe, that the nobility, clergy and
commonalty of England, who have been always fo
zealous for their antient laws, and fo refolute in de-
fending them, did mean no more by the oaths they
fo folemnly impofed, and upon which they laid fo
much weight, than that the king ihould fwear to
keep tliem, fo far only as he fliould think fit. But
*' he fwears only to obferve thofe that are upright, &c."
How can that be underftood otherwife, than that
thofe who give the oath, do declare their laws and
cuftoms to be upright and good, and he by taking
the oath afiirms them to be fo ? Or how can they be
more precifely fpecified than by the enfuing claufe,
Granted from God by juft and devout kings by
oath, efpecially thofe of the famous king Edward?"
But, fays he, by the fame oath .Richard the IT.
*^ was bound to abolifli thofe that were evil." If
any fuch had crept in through error, or been ob-
truded by malice, the evil being difcovered and
declared by the nobility and commons Vv^ho were
concerned, he was not to take advantage of them,
or by his refufal to evade the abolition, but to join
with his people in annulling them, according to

the

Sea. 17. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 139

the general claufe of affentingto thofe '' Quasvulgus
'* elegerit."

Magna Charta being only an abridgment of our
antlent laws and cuftomSj the king that fwears to it,
fwears to them all j and not being admitted to be
the interpreter of it, or to determine what is good
or evil, fit to be obferved or annulled in it, can have
po more power over the reft. This having been
confirmed by more parliaments than we have had
kings fince that time, the fame obligation muft ftill
lie upon them all, as upon John and Henry, in
'whofe time that claim of right was compiled. The
ad: was no lefs folemn than important ; and the moft
dreadful curfes that could be conceived in words,
which were denounced againft fuch as fliould any
way infringe it, by the clergy in Weftminfter-hall,
in the prefence and v/ith the affent of King Henry
.III. many of the principal nobility, and all the eftates
of the kingdom, fliew whether it was referred
to the king's judgment or not ; when 'tis evident
they feared the violation from no other than him-
felf, and fuch as he -fhould employ. I confefs the
church (as they then called the clergy) was fallen
into fuch corruption, that their arms were not much
to be feared by one who had his confcience clear;
but that could not be in the cafe of perjury: and
our anceftors could do no better, than to employ
the fpiritual fword, referving to themfelves the ufe
of the other in cafe that he (hould be defpifed. Tho*
. the pope's excommunications proved fometimes to
be but bruta fulmina, when a juft caufe was want-
ing, it may be eafily judged what a prince could ex-
pe6l from his fabjeds, when every man knew he
had by perjury drawn the moft heavy curfes upon
himfelf. King John was certainly wicked, but he
durft not break thefe bonds till he had procured the

pope's

1 .

cc
cc

14a DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

pope's abfolutlon for a cover -, and when he had
done fo, he found himfelf unfafe under it, and could
Rot make good what he had promifed to the pope
to obtain it, the parliament declaring that his grants
to the pope were uniuil:, illegal, contrary to his co-
ronation-oath, and that they would not be held by
them. This went fo far in that king's time, that
writs were iiTued out to men of all conditions to
oblige themfelves by oath to keep the great charter ;
and if other means failed, *' * to compel the king
*^ to perform the conditions." 'Tis exprefly fald in
his charter, '' -f- That the barons and commonalty
of the land fliall ftreighten and compel lis by all
means poffible, as by feizing our towns, lands,
and pofTefiions, or any other way, till fatisfac-
tion be made according to their pleafure." And
in the charter of his fon Henry, 'tis, upon the fame
fuppofition of not performing the agreement, faid,
;}; It ihall be lawful for all men in our kingdom
to rife up againfl us, and to do all things that
may be grievous to us, as if they were abfolutely
^^ free from any engagements to our perfon." Thefe
words feem to have been contrived to be fo full and
flrong propter duplicitatem regis, which was with
too much reafon fufpecfled. And 'tis not, as I fup-
pofe, the language of flaves and villains begging
fomething from their lord, but of noble and free
men, who knew their lord was no more than what
they made him, and had nothing but what they

* Et quod ipfum regem per captionem diftringerent & gravarent ad
prasfata exequenda.

f Et ipii Barones cum cominunitate totius terrre diilringent & gra-
vabunt nos modls omnibus quibus poterunt, fcilicet per captionem
caftrorum, terrarum, polTeffonum, & aliis modis quibus potucrint, do-
me eniendatuin fuerit fecundum arbitrium eorum.

X Licet omnibus de regno noflro contra nos infurgere, Sz omnia fa-
cere qu£ gravamen noftrum refpiciant, ac fi nobis m nullo teneren-
tar.

cc

gave

Sed. 17. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 142

gave him : nor the language of a lord treating with
fuch as enjoy'd their liberties by his favour, but with
thofe whom he acknowledged to be the judges of
his performing what had been ftipulated -, and equals
the agreements made between the kings and people
of Arragon, which I cited before from the relations
of Antonio Perez. This is as far as men can go ^
and the experience of all ages manifefts, that princes
performing their office, and obferving thefe ftipu-
lations, have lived glorious, happy and beloved :
and I can hardly find an example of any who have
notorioufly broken thefe oaths, and been adjudged
to have incurred the penalties, who have not lived
miferably, died (hamefully, and left an abominable
memory to poflerity.

" But, fays our author, kings cannot be more
'' obliged by voluntary oaths than other men, and
'^ may be relieved from unjuft and unreafonable
*' promifes, if they be induced by deceit, error,
*' force or fear, or the performance be grievous."
Which is to fay, that no oath is of any obligation :
for there is none that is not voluntary or involuntary,
and there never was any upon which fome fuch
thing may not be pretended, which would be the
fame if fuch as Filmer had the diredion of their
confciences who take the oaths, and of thofe vv'ho
are to txzCi the performance. This would foon de-
flroy all confidence between king and people, and.
not only unhinge the beft eftabliihed governments,
but by a deteftable practice of annihilating the force
of oaths and moft folemn contradls that can be made
by men, overthrow all focietics that fubfilc by them.
I leave it to all leafonable men to judge how fit a
work this would be for the fupreme n^iagiilrate v/bo
is advanced to the higheft degree of human glory
and happinefs, that he m.ay preierve them ; and how

that

142 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

that juftice, for the obtaining of which govern-
ments are conftituted, can be adminiftred, if he who
is to exaft it from others, do in his own perfon ut-
terly fubvert it ; and what they deferve, who by
fuch bafe prevarications would teach them to pervert
and abolifh the moft facred of all contrads. A
worthy perfon of our age was accuflomed to fay
that contra6ts in writing v\ ere invented only to bind
villains, who having no law, jufticeor truth within
themfelves, would not keep their words, unlefs fuch
teftimonies were given as might compel them. But
if our author's dodlrine were received, no contract
would be of more value than a cobweb. Such as
are not abfolutely of a profligate confcience, fo far
reverence the religion of an oath, to think that even
thofe which are moft unjuftly and violently impofed
ought to be obferved -, and Julius Caefar, who I
think was not over-fcrupulous, when he was taken
by pirates, and fet at liberty upon his word, caufed
the ranfom he had promifed to be paid to them.
We fee the like is pradifed every day by prifoners
taken in unjuft as well as juft wars : and there is no
honeft man that would not abhor a perfon, who
being taken by the pirates of Algier fliould not pay
what he had promifed for his liberty. 'Twere in
vain to fay they had no right of exading, or that
the performance was grievous ; he muft return
to chains, or pay. And tho' the people of Artois,
Alfatia, or Flanders, do perhaps with reafon
think the king of France has no right to im-
pofe oaths of allegiance upon them, no man doubts,
that if they choofe rather to take thofe oaths, than
to fuffer what might enfue upon their refulal, they
are as much bound to be faithful to him as his an-
tient fubieds.

The

Sea. 17. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 143

The like may be faid of promifes extorted by
fraud ; and no other example is neceffiiry to prove
they are to be performed than that of Jofhua made
to the Gibeonites. They were an accurfed nation,
which he was com.manded to deftroy : they came
to him with lies, and by deceit induced him to
make a league with them, which he ought not to
have done; but being made, it was to be performed ;
and on that account he did not only fpare but defend
them, and the adion was approved by God. When
Saul by a prepoflerous zeal violated that league, the
anger of God for that breach of faith could no
otherwife be appeafed than by the death of feven of
his children. This cafe is fo full, foprecife, and of
fuch undoubted authority, that I fliall not trouble
myfclf with any other. But if we believe our man
of good morals, voluntary oaths and promifes are
of no more value than thofe gained by force or de-
ceit, that is to fay, none are of any. For volunta-
ry fignifying nothing but free, all human afts are
either free or not free, that is, from the will of the
perfon, or fome impulfe from without. If there-
fore there be no force in thofe that are free, nor in
thofe that are not free, there is none in any.

No better ufe can be made of any " pretenlion of
*' error," or that the'' performance was grievous )"
for no man ought to be grieved at the performance
of his contrad. David affures us, that a good man
performs his agreement tho' he lofe by it ; and the
lord chancellor Egerton told a gentleman, who defired
relief againft his own deed, upon an allegation that he
knew not what he did when he figned it, that he did
not fit to relieve fools.

But tho' voluntary promifes or oaths, when, to
ufe the lawyers language, there is not a valuable
coufidcration, were of no obligation -, or that men

brought

144 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

brought by force, fear or error, Into fuch contracls
as are grievous in the performance, might be re-
lieved; this v^^ould not at all reach the cafes of
princes, in the contrails made between them and
their fubjeds, and confirmed by their oaths, there
being: i^o colour of force or fraud, fear or error for
them to alledge ; nor any thing to be pretended that
can be grievous to perform, other wife than as it may
be grievous to an ill man not to do the mifchiefs he
had conceived.

Nations according to their own will frame the
laws by which they refolve to be governed ; and if
they do it not wifely, the damage is only to them-
felves ; but 'tis hard to find an example of any peo-
ple that did by force oblige a man to take upon him
the government of them. Gideon was indeed much
prefkd by the Ifraelites to be their king ; and the
army of Germanicus in a mutiny more fiercely
urged him to be emperor ; but both defifted when
their offers were refufed. If our kings have been
more modeft, and our anceftors more pertinacious in
compelling them to accept the crowns they offer 'd,
I {hall upon proof of the matter change my opinion.
But till that do appear, I may be pardoned if I
think there was no fuch thing. William, the Nor-
man was not by force brought into England, but
came voluntarily, and defired to be king: the nobility,
clergy, and commons propofcd the conditions up-
on which they would receive him. Thefe conditions
were to govern according to their antient laws,
efpecially thofe that had been granted, or rather
collected in the time of the famous king Edward.
Here Vv^as neither force nor fraud ; if he had difliked
the terms, he might have retired as freely as he came.
But he did like them \ and tho' he was not perhaps

fo

Sea. 17. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 145

fo modeft, to fay with the brave Saxon king Offa,
" Ad Hbertatis veftr^e tuitionem, non meis mentis,
*^ fed fola liberahtate veflra unanimiter me convo-
" caflis*," he accepted the crown upon the conditi-
ons oiFer'd, and fwore upon theevangeHfls toobferve
them. Not much valuing this, he pretended to
govern according to his own will; but finding the
people would not endure it, he renewed his oath
upon the fame evangeliils, and the reliqucs of S.
Alban, which he needed not to have done, but
might have departed to his dutchy of Normandy if
he had not lik'd the conditions, or thought not fit to
obferve them. 'Tis probable he examined the con-
tents of Edward's laws before he -j- fwore to them,
and could not imagine, that a free nation which
never had any other kings than fuch as had been
chofen by themfelves for the prefervation of their
liberty, and from whofe liberality the beft of their
kings acknowledged the crowns they wore, did intend
to give up their perfons, liberties and eftates to him,
who was a ftranger, mofl efpecially when they would
not receive him till he had fworn to the fame laws
by which the others had reigned, of w^hich one was
(as appears by the ad: of the Conventus Pananglicus)
that "■ Reges a facerdotibus & fenioribus populi eli-
gantur, the kings iliould be eledled by the clergy
and elders of the people." By thefe means he
was advanced to the crown, to which he could have
no title, unlefs they had the right of conferring it
Upon him. Here was therefore no force, deceit or
error , and whatfoever equity thera might be to re-
lieve one that had been forced, frighted or circum-
vented, it was nothing to this cafe. We do not find

* Addit. Mat. Par.

f Bcnas & approbatas andquas regnl leges, quas fandi &- pii
reges ejas antecefTores, 3c niaxime F.Cwardus Taiait, ir.violabilittr
oblcrvare*

Vol. II. L that

cc

t^e DISCOURSES Chap. III.

that William the fecond, or Henry, were forced to be
kings; no fword was put to their throats; and for
any thing we know, the Englifh nation was not then
fo contemptible but men might have been found in the
world, who would willingly have accepted the crown,
and even their elder brother Robert would not have
refufed : but the nobility and commons trufting to
their oaths and promifes, thought fit to prefer them
before him ; and when he endeavoured to impofe
himfelf upon the nation by force, they fo feverelv
puniflied him, that no better proof can be required
to (hew that they were accuftomed to have no other
kings than fuch as they approved. And this was one
of the cuftoms that all their kings fwore to maintain,
it being as antient, juft, and well approved as any
other.

Having already proved, that all the kings we
have had fincc that time, have come in upon the
fame title ; that the Saxon laws to which all have
fworn, continue to be of force amongft us, and that
the words pronounced four times on the four fides of
the fcaffold by the archbifliop, '* Will ye have thi«
'* man to reign ?" do teftify it; I may fpare the pains
of a repetition, and juflly conclude, that if there
was neither force nor fraud, fear nor error to be pre-
tended by the iirll, there could be none in thofe that
followed.

But tlie '^ obierva-tionof this oathmaybe grievous/'
It I received money the laft year upon bond, promife,
or fale of a manor or farm, can it be thought
grievous to me to-be compelled to repay, or to make
over the land according to my agreement ? Or if I
did not feal the bond till I Iiad the money, muft not
I perform the condition, or at the leaft reftore what
I had received ? If it be grievous to any king to pre-
ferve the liberties^ lives, and ellates of his fubjeds,

. . and

1

Sea. 17; CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 147

and to govern according to their laws, let him re--
fign the crown, and the people to whom the oath
was made, will probably releafe him. Others may
poffibly be found who will not think it grievous :
or if none will accept a crown unlefs they may do
what they pleafe, the people muft bear the misfor-
tune of being obliged to govern themfelves, or to
inftitute fome other fort of magiftracy that will be
fatisfied with a lefs exorbitant power. Perhaps they
may fucceed as well as fome others have done,
who without being brought to that neceffity, have
voluntarily caft themfelves into the mifery of living
without the majeftic fplendor of a monarch: or if
that fail, they may, as their laft refuge, furrender
up themfelves to Ikvery. When that is done, we
will acknowledge that whatfoever we have is derived
from the favour of our mafler. But no fuch thing
yet appearing amongfl us, we may be pardoned if we
think we are free-men governed by our own laws,
and that no man has a power over us, which is not
given and regulated by them ; nor that any thing but
a new law made by our felves, can exempt our
kings from the obligation of performing their oaths
taken, to govern according to the old, in the true
fenfe of the words, as they are underftood in our
language by thofe who give them, and conducing to
the ends for which they are given, which can be no
other than to defend us from all manner of arbitrary
power, and to fix a rule to which we are to conform
our a(!^ions, and from which, according to our
deferts, we may expe(ft reward or punifhment.
And thofe who by prevarications, cavils or equivo-
cations, endeavour to difTolve thefe obligations, do
either mallciouily betray the caufe of kings, by re-
prefenting them to the world as men who prefer the
latisfadion of their irregular appetites before the per-

L z formance

148 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

formance of their duty, and trample under foot the
iiioft facred bonds of human fociety ; or from the
groiTeft ignorance do not fee, that by teaching nations
how Httle they can rely upon the oaths of their
princes, they inflruft them as Httle to obferve their
own 'y and that not only becaufe men are generally
inclined to follow the examples of thofe in power,
but from a moil: certain concluiion, that he who
breaks his part of a contract cannot without the
utmoft impudence and folly expert the performance
of the other -, nothing being more known amongft
men, than that all contracts are of fuch mutual
obligation, that he who fails of his part difcharges
the other. If this be fo between man and man, it
muft needs be fo between one and many millions of
men : If he were free, becaufe he fays he is, every
man muft be free alfowhenhe pleafes j if a private man
who receives no benefit, or perhaps prejudice from
a contract, be obliged to perform the conditions,
much more are kings who receive the greateft ad-
vantages the world can give. As they are not by
themfelves nor for themfelves, fo they are not
different in fpecie from other men : they are born,
live and die as we all do. The fame law of truth
andjuftice is given to all by God and nature, and
perhaps I may fay the performance of it is moft
riliorouflv exacted from the ^[reatefl of men. The
liberty of perjury cannot be a privilege annexed to
crowns ; and 'tis abfurd to think that the moft
venerable authority that can be conferred upon a
man is increafed by a liberty to commit, or im-
punity in committing fuch crimes as are the greateft
aoro-ravations of infamv to tlic bafeft villains in the
v/orld,

SECT.

Sea. 18. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 14 j

SECT. XVIII.

T/je 7iest in blood to deceafcd kings caiinot generally b'.
faid to be kings till they are crowned.

yt I AIS hereupon ufually objedled, that kings do
J^ not come in by contradl nor by oath, but
are kings by, or according to proximity of blood,
before they are crov/ned. Tho' this be a bold pro-
pofition, I will not fay 'tis univerfally falfe. 'Tis
poflible that in fome places the rule of fucceffion
may be fet down fo precifely, that in fome c:fes
every man may be able to fee and know the fenfe,
as Well as the perfon deiigned to be the fucceifor :
but before I acknowledge it to be univerfally true, I
muft delire to know what this rule of fucceffion is,
and from whence it draws its original.

I think I may be excufed if I make thefe fcruples,
-becaufe I find the thing in difpute to be varioufly ad-
judged in feveral places, and have obferved five dif-
ferent manners of difpofing crowns efteemed here-
ditary, befides an infinite number of collateral con-
troverfies arifing from them, of which we have di-
vers examples j and if there be one univerfal rule
appointed, one of thefe only can be right, and the
others muft be vicious. The firft gives the inheri-
tance to the eldefl male of the eldeft legitimate line,
as in France, according to that which they call the Sa-
lique law. The fecond, to the eldeft legitimate male
of the reigning family, as antiently in Spain, ac-
cording to which the brother of the deceafed king
has been often if not always preferred before the fon,
if he were elder, as may appear by the difpute be-
tween Corbis and Orfua, cited before from Titus
Livius; and in the fame country during the reign of
the Goths, the eldeft male fucceeded, whether le-

L 3 - " gitimate

150 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill

gitimate or illegitimate. The fourth receives females
or their defcendants, without any other condition
4iftinguifhing them from males, except that the
younger brother is preferred before the elder fifter,
but the daughter of the elder brother is preferr'd be-
fore the fon of the younger. The fifth gives the
inheritance to females under a condition, as in Swe-
den, where they inherit, unlefs they marry out of
the country without the confent of the eftates ; ac-
cording to which rule Charles Guftavus was chofen,
as any ftranger might have been, tho' fon to a fifter
of Guftavus Adolphus, who by marrying a Ger^
man prince had forfeited her right. And by the
fame adt of eflates, by which her eldeft fon was
chofen, and the crown entailed upon the heirs of
his body, her fecond fon the prince Adolphus was
wholly excluded.

Till thefe queftions are decided by a judge of fuch
an undoubted authority, that all men may fafely fubr
mit, 'tis hard for any man who really feeks the fa-
tisfaftion of his confcience, to know whether the
law of God and nature (tho' he fliould believe there
is one general law) do juftify the cuftoms of the an-
tient * Medes and Sabeans, mentioned by the poet,
who admitted females, or thofe of France which
totally exclude them as unfit to reign over men, and
utterly unable to perform the duty of a fupreme ma-
giftrate, as we fee they are every where excluded
from the exercife of all other offices in the common-
wealth. If it be faid that we ought to follow the
cuftoms of our own country, I anfwer that thofe of
our own country deferve to be obferved, becaufe they
are of our own country : but they are no more to.
be called the laws of God and nature than thofe qf

Medis levlbiifque Sabaeis

Imperat hie fexus, reginarumque fub armis
JJarbaries para- magna jacet. Lucan^,

Sea. 1 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 151

France or Germany -, and tho' I do not believe that
any general law is appointed, I wifli I were fare that
our cuftoms in this point were not more repugnant
to the light of nature, and prejudicial to our felves,
than thofe of fome other nations. But if I fliould
be fo much an Englifliman, to think the v/ill of God
to have been more particularly revealed to our an-
ceftors, than to any other nation, and that all of
them ought to learn from us -, yet it would be difli-
cult to decide many queflions that may arife. For
tho' the parliament in the thirty fixth of Henry
VI. made an ad in favour of Richard duke of York,
defcended from a daughter of Mortimer, who mar-
ried the daughter of the duke of Clarence, elder
brother to John of Gaunt, they rather afferted their
own power of giving the crown to whom the pleaf-
ed, than determined the queftion. For if they had
believed that the crown had belonged to him by a
general and eternal law, they muft immediately have
rejefted Henry as an ufurper, and put Richard into
the poffeffion of his right, which they did not. And
tho' they did fomething like to this in the cafes of
Maud the emprefs in relation to king Stephen, and
her fon Henry the fecond -, and of Henry the feventh
in relation to the houfe of York, both before he had
married a daughter of it, and after her death ; they
did the contrary in the cafes of William the firft and
fecond, Henry the firft, Stephen, John, Richard the
third, Henry the feventh, Mary, Elizabeth, and
others. So that, for any thing I can yet find, 'tis
equally difficult to difcover the true fenfe of the law
of nature that fliould be a guide to my confcience,
whether I fo far fubmit to the laws of my country,
to think that England alone has produced men that
rightly under jftand it, or examine the laws and prac-
tices of other nations.

L 4 V^hilft

?5^ DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

Wliilft this remains undecided, 'tis impoffible for
me to know to whom I owe the obedience that is
exacted from me. Jf I were a Frenchman, I could
not tell whether I ow'd allegiance to the king of
Spain, duke of Lorrain, duke of Savoy, or many
others defcended from daughters of the houfe of
Valois, one of whom ought to inherit, if the in^
heritance belongs to females ; or to the houfe of
Bourbon, whole only title is founded upon the ex-
plufion of them. The like controverfies will be in
all places ; and he that would put mankind upon
fuch enquiries, goes about to fubvert all the govern-
ments of the world, and arms every man to the
deftruftion of his neighbour.

We ought to be informed when this right began 3
if we had the genealogy of eveiy man from Noah,
and the crowns of every nation had fince his time
continued in one line, we were only to inquire in-
to how many kingdoms he appointed the world to
be divided, and how well the divifion we fee at this
day agrees with the allotment made by him. But
mankind having for many ages lain under fuch a vaft
jconfufion, that no man pretends to know his own
original, except fom.e Jews, and the princes of the
houfe of Auliria, we cannot fo eafily arrive at the
end of our work \ and the fcriptures making no other
mention of this part of the world, than what may
induce us to think it was given to the fons of Japhet,
we have nothing that can lead us to guefs how it
- was to be fubdivided, nor to whom the fevera! parcels
were given : fo that the difficulties are abfolutely in-
extricable ; and tho' it were true, that fome one man
had a right to^ every parcel that is known to us, it could
|3e of no ufe ; for that right muft neceiTarily perifli
W^ich no man can prove, nor indeed claim. But
as all natural rights by inheritance muft be by defcent,

thi§

Sea. 18. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 153

this defcent not being proved, there can be no na-
tural right ; and all rights being either natural, cre-
ated or acquired, this right to crowns not being na-
tural, muil: be created or acquired, or none at all.

There being no general law common to all na-
tions, creating a right to crowns (as has been proved
by the feveral methods ufed by feveral nations in the
difpofal of them, according to which all thofe that
we know are enjoy'd) we mufl feek the right con-
cerning which we difpute, from the particular con-
ftitutions of every nation, or we ihall be able to find
none.

Acquir'd rights are obtained, as men fay, either
by fair means or by foul, that is, by force or by con-
fent : fuch as are gained by force, may be recovered
by force ; and the extent of thofe that are enjoy'd
by confent, can only be known by the reafons for
which, or the conditions upon which that confent
was obtained, that is to fay, by the laws of every
people. According to thefe laws it cannot be faid
that there is a king in every nation before he is crown-
ed. John Sobietski nov/ reigning in Poland, had no
relation in blood to the form.er kings, nor any title
till he was chofen. The laft king of Sweden ac-
knowledged he had none, but was freely elefted ;
and the crown being conferred upon him and the
heirs of his body, if the prefent king dies without
iffue, the right of eledting a fuccelTor returns un-
doubtedly to the eftates of the country. The crown
of Denmark was elective till it was made hereditary
by an acft of the general diet, held at Copenhagen
in the year 1660^ and 'tis impoflible that a right
fhould otherwife accrue to a younger brother of the
houfe of Holftien, which is derived from a young-
er brother of the counts of Oldenburgh. The Ro-
ffizn empire having pafled through the hands of

many

154 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

many peiTons of different nations, no way relating to
each other in blood, was by Conftantine transferred
to Conilantinople ; and after many revolutions com-
ing to Theodofius, by birth a Spaniard, was divided
between his two fons Arcadius and Honorius. From
thence paffing to fuch as could gain moft credit with
the foldiers, the Weftern empire being brought
almoft to nothing, was reftored by Charles the great
of France -, and continuing for fome time in his de-
fcendants, came to the Germans ; who having
created fcveral emperors of the houfes of Suevia,
Saxony, Bavaria and others, as they pleafed, about
three hundred years pad chofe Rodolphus of Auftria:
and tho' fince that time they have not had any em-
peror who was not of that family ; yet fuch as were
chofen had nothing to recommend them but the
merits of their anceftors, their own perfonal virtues,
or fuch political confiderations as might arife from
the power of their hereditary countries, which being
joined with thofe of the empire, might enable them
to make the better defence againft the Turks. But
in this line alfo they have had little regard to in-
heritance according to blood ; for the elder branch of
the family is that which reigns in Spain ; and the
empire continues in the defcendants of Ferdinand
younger brother to Charles the fifth, tho' fo unfix'd
even to this time, that the prefent emperor Leopold
was in great danger of being rcjedled.

If it be faid that thefe are eledive kingdoms, and
our author fpeaks of fuch as are hereditary; I anfwer,
that if what he fays be true, there can be no ele6tive
kingdom, and every nation has a natural lord to
whom obedience is due. But if fome are eledive,
all might have been fo if they had pleafed, unlefs it
can be proved, that God created fome under a
jieceffity of fubjedlon, and left to others the enjoy-
ment

I

sea. 1 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT.

ment of their liberty. If this be fo, the nations
that are born under that neceflity may be faid to have
a natural lord, who has all the power in himfelf,
before he is crowned, or any part conferred on him
by the confent of thepeople^ but it cannot extend
to others. And he who pretends a right over any
nation upon that account, ftands obliged to fliew
when and how that nation came to be difcriminated
by God from others, and deprived of that liberty
which he in goodnefs had granted to the reft of man-
kind. *I Gonfefs I think there is no fuch right, and
need no better proof than the various waysof difpofing
inheritances in feveral countries, which not being
naturally or univerfally better or worfe than another,
cannot fpring from any other root, than the confent
of the feveral nations where they are in force, and
their opinions that fuch methods were beft for them.
But if God have made a difcrimination of people,
he that would thereupon ground a title to the do-
minion of any one, muft prove that nation to be
under the curfe of flavery, which for any thing I
know, w^as only denounced againft Cham : and 'tis as
hard to determine whether the fenfe of it be temporal,
fpiritual, or both, as to tell precifely what nations by
being only defcended from him, fall under the
penalties threatned,

If thefe therefore be either intirely falfe, or im-
poffible to be proved true, there is no difcrim.ination,
or not known to us j and every people has a right of
difpofing of their government, as well as the Polan-
ders, Danes, Swedes, Germans, and fuch as are
or were under the Roman empire. And if any
nation has a natural lord before he be admitted by
their confent, it muft be by a peculiar ad: of their
own, as the crown of France by an ad: of that
liation, which they call the Salique law, is made

* hereditary

156 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

hereditary to males in a direcfl line, or the ncareft to
the dired: ; and others in other places are otherwife
difpofed.

I might reft here with full aflurance that no dif-
ciple of Filmer can prove this of any people in the
world, nor give fo much as the fhadow of a
reafon to perfuade us there is any fuch thing in any
nation, or at leaft in thofe where we are concerned ;
and prefume little regard will be had to what he has
faid, fince he cannot prove of any that which he fo
boldly affirms of all. But becaufe good men ought
to have no other objed: than truth, which in matters
of this importance can never be made too evident, I
will venture to go farther and aflert, that as the
various ways by which feveral nations difpofe of
the fucceffion to their refpeflive crowns, fhew they
were fubjedl to no other lav^ than their own, which
they might have made different, by the fame right
they made it to be what it is, even thofe who have
the greateft veneration for the reigning families, and
the higheft regard for proximity of blood, have
always preferr'd the fafety of the comimonwealth
before the concernments of any perfon or family 5
and have not only laid afide the neareft in blood, when
they wxre found to be notorioufly vicious and wicked,
but when they have thought it more convenient to
take others : and to prove this I intend to make ufe of
no other examples than thofe I find in the hiftories
of Spain, France and England.

Whilft the Goths governed Spain, not above four
perfons in the fpace of three hundred years were the
immediate fucceffors of their fathers, but the brothei?,
coufin german, or fome other man of the families
of the Baithei or Amalthei was preferred before the
children of the deceafed king: and if it be faid, this
was according to the law of that kingdom, I anfwer,
that it was therefore in the power of that nation to

mak Q

Sea. i8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 157

make laws for themfelves, and confequently others
have the fame right. One of their kings called
Wamba * was depofed and made a monk after he
had reigned well many years; hut falling into a
fwound, and his friends thinking him pad recovery,
cut off his hair, and put a monk's frock upon him,
that, according to the fuperftition of thofe times,
he might die in it ; and the cutting off the hair being
a mofl difgraceful thing amongft the Goths -f*, they
would not reftore him to his authority. Suintila
another of their kings being deprived of the crown
for his ill government, his children and brothers
were excluded, and Sifinandus crowned in his
room J.

This kingdom being not long after overthrown by
the Moors, a new one arofe from its afhes in the
perfon of Don Pelayo firfl: king of the Afturia's,
which increaiing by ^degrees, atlaft came to com-
prehend all Spain, and fo continues to this day : but
not troubling my felf with all the deviations from
the common rule in the collateral lines of Navarre,
Arragon and Portugal, I find that by fifteen fever a I
inftances in that one feries of kings in the Afturia's
and Leon (who afterwards came tobekingsof Caftille)
it is fully proved, that what refpedt foever they
(hew'd to the next in blood, who by the law were
to fucceed, they preferred fome other perfon, as
often as the fupreme law of " taking care that
*' the nation might receive no detriment," perfuaded
them to it.

Don Pelayo enjoy 'd for his life the kingdom con-
ferred upon him by the Spaniards, who with him re-
tired into the mountains to defend themfelves againft
the Moors, and w^as fucceeded by his fon Favila,

* Saavedra Coron. Goth. -f- Mar. Hift. 1. 5.

J Saaved. Cor. Goth,

But

15S DISCOURSES Chap. IIj^

But tlio' Favila left many fons when he died, Al-
phonfo lirnamed the chafte was advanced to the
crown, and they all laid afide. Fruela fon to Al-
phonfo the catholic, was for his cruelty depofed,
put to death, and his fons excluded. ^ Aurelio his
couiin german fucceeded him ; and at his death Si-
lo, who married his wife's lifter, was preferred be-
fore the males of the blood royal. Alphonfo firnam'd
El Cafto, was firft violently difpoffefs'd of the crown
by a baftard of the royal family ; but he being dead,
the nobility and people thinking Alphonfo more fit
to be a monk than a king, gave the crown to Ber-
mudo called El Diacono ; but Bermudo after feveral
years religning the kingdom, they conceived a bet-
ter opinion of Alphonfo, and made him king. Al-
phonfo dying without ilTue, Don Ramiro fon to
Bermudo was preferred before the nephews of Al-
phonfo. Don Ordonno, fourth from Ramiro, left
four legitimate fons ; but they being young, the
eflates laid them afide, and made his brother Fruela
kino-. Fruela had many children, but the fame eftates
. gave the crown to Alphonfo the fourth, who was his
nephew. Alphonfo turning monk, recommended
his fon Ordonno to the eftates of the kingdom ; bat
they refufed him, and made his brother Ramiro king.
Ordonno third fon to Ramiro dying, left a fon call-
ed Bermudo ; but the eftates took his brother San-
clio, and advanced him to the throne. Henry the
firft being accidentally killed in his youth, left only
two fifters, Blanche married to Lewis fon to Philip
Au^uft kins: of France, and Bereno-uela married to
A lohonfo king of Leon. The eftates made -f- Fer-
dinand, fon of Berenguela the youngeft fifter, king,
excludins: Blanche, with her huiband and children
for being ftrangers, and Berenguela her felf^ becaufe

* Mariana. 1, 13. f Mariana. I. 12.

they

Sea. 18. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 159

they thought not fit that her hufband fliould have
any part in the government. Alphonlb El Savio
feems to have been a very good prince ; but apply-
ing himfelf more to the ftudy of aftrology than to
affairs of government, his eldeft fon Ferdinand
de la Cerda dying, and leaving his fons Alphonfo
and Ferdinand very young, the nobility, clergy and
people depofed him, excluded his grandchildren,
and gave the crown to Don Sancho his younger fon,
firnamed El Bravo, thinking him more fit to com-
mand them againft the Moors, than an old aftrologer
or a child. Alphonfo and Sancho being dead, Al-
phonfo El Defheredado laid claim to the crown, but
it was given to Ferdinand the fourth, and Alphon-
fo with his defcendants the dukes de Medina Celi re-
main excluded to this day. Peter firnamed the cruel
w^as twice driven out of the kingdom, and at laft
killed by Bertrand de Guefclin conftable of France,
or Flenry count of Traftamara his baftard-brother,
who was made king without any regard to the
daughters of Peter, or to thehoufe of la Cerda. Hen-
ry the fourth left a daughter called ^ Joan, whom he
declared his heir ; but the eflates gave the king-
dom to Ifabel his fifter, and crowned her vi^ith Fer-
dinand of Arragon her hulband. Joan daughter to
this Ferdinand and Ifabel falling mad, the eftates
committed the care of the government to her father
Ferdinand, and after his death to Charles her fon.
But the French have taught us, that when a king
dies, his next heir is really king before he take his
oath, or be crowned. From them we learn that Le
mort faifit le vif. And yet I know no hiftory that
proves more plainly than theirs, that there neither
is nor can be in any man, a right to the government
of a people, which does not receive its being, man-

* Mariana, I. 24.

ner

iiSo DISCOURSES Chap. III.

ner and meafure from the law of that country ;
which I hope to juftify by four reafons.

I . When a king of Pharamond's race died, the
kingdom was divided into as many parcels as he had
fons ; which could not have been, if one certain
heir had been afiigned by nature, for he ought to
have had the whole : and if the kingdom might be
divided, they who inhabited the feveral parcels,
could not know to whom they owed obedience, till
the diviiion was made, unlefs he who was to be king
of Paris, Metz, Soiffons or Orleans, had worn the
name of his kingdom upon his forehead. But in
truth, if there might be a divifion, the dodlrine is
falfe, and there was no lord of the whole. This
wound will not be healed by faying, the father ap-
pointed the divifion, and that by the law of nature
every man may difpofe of his own as he thinks fit ;
for we fliall foon prove that the kingdom of France
neither was, nor is difpofeable as a patrimony or
chattel. Befides, if that a6t of kings had been then
grounded upon the law of nature, they might do
the like at this day. But the law, by which fuch
divifions were made, having' been abrogated by the
allembly of cftates in the time of * Hugh Capet,
and nzvtx pradifed fince, it follows that they were
grounded upon a temporary law, and not upon the
law of nature which is eternal. If this were not fo,
i\\^ pretended certainty could not be ; for no man
could know to whom the lad king had bequeathed
the whole kingdom, or parcels of it, till the w^ill .
were opened 3 and that muft be done before fuch
witnefles as may deferve credit in a matter of this
iaiportance, and are able to judge whether the be-
quefi: be rightly made ; for otherwife no man could
know, wdietlier the kingdom was to have one lord

* Illii, de Fr. en k vie de Ikigues Capet,

t or

Sea. iS. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 16 1

or many, nor v/ho he or they v/ere to be ; which
intermiillon muft neceffarily fubvert their polity, and
this dodlrine. But the truth is, the. moil monarchi-
cal men amono^ them are fo far from acknowlecie-
ing any fuch right to be in the king, of alienating,
bequeathing or dividing the kingdom, that they do
not allow him the right of making a will 5 and that
of the lafl: king * Lewis the thirteenth touching the
regency during the minority of his fon was of no
Gffcd.

2. This matter was made more clear under the
fecond race. If a lord had been affig-ned to them
by nature, he muft have been of tlie royal family :
but Pepin had no other title to the crown except
the merits of his father, and his own, approved by
the nobility and people who made him king. He
had three fons, the eldeft was made king of Italy,
and dying before him left a fon called Bernard heir
of that kingdom. The eftates of France divided
what remained between Charles the great and Car-*
loman.^l- The laft of thefe dying in few years left
many fons, but the nobility m.ade Charles king of
all France, and he difpoflefled Bernard of the king-
dom of Italy inherited from his father : fo that he
alfo was not kins; of the whole, before the exoulfi-
on of Bernard the fon of his elder brother ; nor of
Aquitain, which by inheritance (hould have belong-
ed to the children of his younger brother, any other-
wife than by the will of the eftates. Lewis the de-
bonair fucceeded upon the fame title, was depofed
and put into a m.onaftery by his three fons Lothair,
Pepin and Lewis, whom he had by his firft wife.
But tho' thefe left many fons, the kingdom came to
Charles the bald. The nobility and people difii:;-

* Mem. du Due. de la Rochcfocauljc.
+ Paul. ^mil. hift. Frauc.

Vol, II. M inii

iGi DISCOURSES Chap. III.

•

^ng the eldeft fon of Charles, gave the kingdom to
Lewis le begue, v^ho had a legitimate fon called
Charles le fimple -, and two baftards, Lewis and Car-
loman, who were made kings. Carloman had a
fon called Lewis le faineant ; he was made king, but
afterwards depofed for his vicious life. Charles Ic
■gros fucceeded him, but for his ill government was
alfo depofed > and Odo, vid:io was a flranger to the
royal blood, was made king. The fame nobility
that had made five kings fince Lewis le begue, now
made Charles le fimple king, who according to his
name, was entrapped at Peronne by Ralph duke of
Burgundy, and forced to refign his crown, leaving
only a fon called Lewis, who fled into England.
Ralph being dead, they took Lewis firnamed Ou-
tremer, and placed him in the throne : he had
two fons, Lothair and Charles. Lothair fucceeded
him, and died without ifllie. Charles had as fair a
title as could be bv birth, and the eftates confeiTed
it 3 but their ambaifadors told him, that he having
by an unworthy life render'd himfelf unw^orthy of
the crown, they, whofe principal care was to have
a good prince at the head of them, had chofen Hugh
Capet ; and the crown continues in his race to this
day, tho' not altogether without interruption. Ro-
bert fon to Hugh Capet fucceeded him. He left
two fons, Robert and Henry 5 but Henry the young-
er fon appearing to the eftates of the kingdom to be
more fit to reign than his elder brother, they made
him king, Robert and his defcendants continuing
dukes of Burgundy only for about ten generations,
at which time his ifliie male failing, that dutchy re-
turned to the crown during the life of king John,
who gave it to his fecond fon Philip for an Apan-
nage ftill depending upon the crown. The fame
province of Burgundy was by the treaty of Madrid

granted

sea. 1 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 163

granted to the emperor Charles the fifth, by Fran-
cis the firft : but the people refufed to be alienated,
and the eftates of the kingdom approved their refu-
fal. By the fame authority Charles the fixth was
removed from the government, when he appeared
to be mad ; and other examples of a like nature
niay be alledged. From which we may fafely con-
clude, that if the death of one king do really inveft
the next heir with the right and power, or that he
who is fo inverted, be fubje6t to no law but hia
own will, all matters relating to that kingdom muft
have been horribly confufed during the reigns of
22 kings of Pharamond's race ; they can have had
no rightful king from the death of Chilperic to
king John : and the fucceffion iince that time is
very liable to be queftioned, if not utterly over-
thrown by the houfe of Auftria and others, who by
the counts of Haplburg derive their defcent from
Pharamond, and by the houfe of Lorrain claiming
from Charles, who was excluded by Capet ; all
which is moft abfurd, and they who pretend it bring
as much confufion into their own laws, and uoon
the polity of their own nation, as fhame and guilt
upon the memory of their anceflors, who by the
mod extreme injuftice have rejed:ed their natural
lordjor difpofT^flfed thofe who had been in the moft
folemn manner placed in the government, and to
whom they had generally fworn allegiance.

3. If the next heir be acflually king, feifed of the
power by the death of his predeceflbr, fo that there
is no intermiflion • then all the folemnities and re-
ligious ceremonies, ufed at the coronations of their
kings, v/ith the oaths given and taken, are the moft
profane abufes of facred things in contempt of God
and man that can be imagined, moft el'pecially if
the ad be (as our author calls it) voluntary, and the

M 2 kin

<c

164 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

king receiving nothing by it, be bound to keep it
no longer than he pleafes. The prince who is to be
Iworn, might fpare the pains of watching all night in
the church, fafting, praying, confeffing, communi-
cating, and fwearing, '' that he will to the utmoft
of his power defend the clergy, maintain the union
of the church, obviate all excefs, rapine, extor-
tion and iniquity; take care that in all judgments
" juftice may be obferved, with equity and mercy,
" &c. or of invoking the affiftance of the Holy
*^ Ghoft for the better performance of his oath;"
and without ceremony tell the nobility and people,
that he would do what he thought fit. 'Twere to as
little purpofe for the archbifhop of Rheims to take
the trouble of faying mafs, delivering to him the
crown, fcepter, and other enfigns of royalty, ex-
plaining what is fignified by them, anointing him*
with the oil which they fay was deliver'd by an
angel to St. Remigius, bleffing him, and praying
to (rod to blefs him if he rightly performed his oath
to God and the people, and denouncing the contrary
in cafe of failure on his part, if thefe things con-
ferred nothing upon him but what he had before,
and were of no obligation to him. Such ludifi-
cations of the moft facred things are too odious and
impious to be imputed to nations that have any vir-
tue, or profefs chriftianity. This cannot fall upon
the French and Spaniards, who had certainly a great
zeal to religion, whatever it was; and were fo
eminent for moral virtues as to be a reproach to us,
who live in an age of more knowledge. But their
meaning is fo well declared by their moft folemn ads,
that none but thofe who are wilfully ignorant can
miftake. One of the councils held at Toledo, de-
clared by the clergy, nobility, and others aflifting,

'^ That

Sed. 1 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 165

■ " That no man fiiould be placed in the royal feat
" till he had fworn to preferve the church, &c*.
Another held in the fame place, fignified to Sifinan-
dus, who was then newly crown'd, " That if he,
" or any of his fuccejQbrs fliould, contrary to their
*' oaths, and the laws of their country, proudly and
** cruelly prefume to exercife domination over them,
** he fliould be excommunicated, and feparated from
*^ Chrifl-and them to eternal judgment -j-." The
French laws, and their beft writers afferting the
fame things, are confirmed by perpetual pradice.
Henry of Navarre, tho* certainly according to their
rules, and in their efleem a moll accompliflfd prince J,
was by two general alTemblies of the eflates held at
Blois, deprived of the lucceflion for being a prote-
flant ; and notwithflanding the greatnefs of his repu-
tation, valour, vidlories, and afiability, could never
be admitted till he had made himfelf capable of the
ceremonies of his coronation, by conforming to the
religion which by the oath he was to defend. Nay
this prefent king, tho' haughty enough by nature,
and elevated by many fucceffes, has acknowledged,
as he fays, with joy, that he can do nothing contra-
ry to law, and calls it a happy impotence -, in pur-
fuance of v/hich, he has annulled many ads of his
father and grandfather, alienating the demefnes of
the crown, as things contrary to law, and not within
their power,

Thefe things being confirmed by all the good
authors of that nation, Filmer |] finds only the worfl
to be fit for his turn ; and neither minding law nor
hiftory, takes his maxims from a vile flattering dif-
courfe of Bellay, calculated for the perfonal intereft
of Henry the fourth then king of Navarre, in which

* Concil. Tolet. 6. -[• Concil. Tolet. 4.

t Hia. Thuan. |1 Apol. Catliol.

M 3 he

cc

166 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

he fays, '^ That the heir apparent, tho' furious,
mad, a fool, vicious, and in all refped:s abomi-
nably wicked, muft be admitted to the crown."
But Bellay was fo far from attaining the ends defigned
by his book, that by fuch dod:rines, which filled all
men with horror, he brought great prejudice to his
mafter, and procured little favour from Henry,
who defired rather to recommend himfelf to his
people as the beft man they could fet up, than to im-
pofe a neceility upon them of taking him if he had
been the worft. But our author not contented with
what this fycophant fays, in relation to fuch princes
as are placed in the government by a law eftablifhing
the fucceffion by inheritance, with an impudence
peculiar to himfelf, afferts the fame right to be in
any m.an, who by any means gets into power 3 and
impofes the fame neceflity of obedience upon the
fubjed: where there is no law, as Bellay does by vir-
tue of one that is eftablifhed.

4. In the lafi: place : as Bellay acknowledges that
the right belongs to princes only where 'tis eftablifhed
by law, I deny that there is, was, or ever can be
any fuch. No people is known to have been fo
mad or wicked, as by their own confent, for their
own good, and for the obtaining of juftice, to give
the power to beafls, under whom it could never be
obtain'd : or if we could believe that any had been
guilty of an adl fo full of folly, turpitude and
wickednefs, it could not have the force of a law, and
could never be put in execution ; for tho' the rules,
by which the proximity fhouid be judged, be never
fo precife, it will ft ill be doubted whofe cafe fuits
beft with them. Tho' the law in fome places gives
private inheritances to the next heir, and in others
makes allotments according tofeveral proportions, no
one knows to whom, or how far the benefit fhall

accrue

Sedl. iS. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 167

accrue to any man, till it be adjudged by a power to
which the parties muft fubmit. Contefts will in
the like manner arife concerning fucceflions to
crowns, how exadlly foever they be difpofed by law :
for tho' every one will fay that the next ought to
fucceed, yet no man knows who is the next ; which
is too much verified by the bloody decifions of fuch
difputes in many parts of the world : and he that
fays the next in blood is adually king, makes all
queftions thereupon arifing impoffible to be other-
wife determined than by the fword ; the pretender
to the right being placed above the judgment of
man, and the fubjecfts (for any thing I knov/) obliged
to believe, ferve and obey him, if he fays he has it.
For otherwife, if either every man in particular, or
all together have a right of judging his title, it can
be of no value till it be adjudged.

I confefs that the law of France by the utter
exclufion of females^ and their defcendants, does
obviate many dangerous and inextricable difficulties;
but others remain which are fufficient to fubvert all
the polity of that kingdom, if there be not a power
of judging them -, and there can be none if it be true
that " Le mort faifit le vif " Not to trouble my
felf with feigned cafes, that of legitimation alone
will fuffice. 'Tis not enough to fay that the children
born under marriage are to be reputed legitimate ;
for not only feveral children born of Joan daughter
to the king of Portugal, wife to Henry the fourth
ofCaftille, during the time of their marriage, were
utterly rejedted, as begotten in adultery, but alfo her
daughter Joan, whom the king during his life, and
at the hour of his death acknowledged to have been
begotten by him ; and the only title that Ifabel, who
was married to Ferdinand of Arragon, had to the
crown of Soain, was derived from their rejection.

M 4 It

i6S DISCOURSES Chap. III.

li Vv^ould be tedious, and might give offence to many
great peribns^ if I ihould relate all the dubious cafes,
that have been, or flill remain in the. world, touching
matters of this nature :- but the lawyers of all nati-
ons will teilify, that hardly any one point comes
before them, which affords a greater numxber of dif-
ficult cafes, than that of marriages, and the ligiti-
mation of children upon them ; arid nations muft
be involved in the molt inextricable difficulties, if
there be not a power fomewhere to decide them ;
which cannot be, if there be no intermiffion, and
that the next in blood (that is, he who fays he is
the next) be imm.ediately inverted with the right and
power. But farely no people has been fo carelefs of
their mofl: important concernments, to leave them
in fuch uncertainty, and fimply to depend upon the
humour of a m.an, or the faith of women, who
befides their other frailties, have been often accufed
of fuppofitltious births: and mens paflions are known
to be fo violent in relation to w^omen they love or
hate, that none can fafely be trufced with thofe
judgments. The virtue of the beft Vv^ould be ex-
pofed to a temptation, that fielli and blood can hardly
refiil: ; and fuch as are lefs perfedb would follow no
other rule than the blind impulfe of the paffion that
for the prcfent reigns in them. There muft there-
fore be a judge of fuch difputes as may in thefe cafes
arife in every kingdom -, and tho' 'tis not my buii*
nefsto determine who is that judge in all places, yet
I may juftly fay, that in England it is the parliament.
If no inferior authority could debar Ignotus fon to
the lady Roffe, born under the protedion, from the
inheritance of a private family, none can certainly
affame a power of difpoiing of the crown upon any
occafion. No authority but that of the parliament
could legitimate the children of Catherine Swinford,

with

Seft. 1 8. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 169

with a provifo, not to extend to the inheritance of
the crown. Others might fay, if they were law-
fully begotten, they ought to inherit every thing, and
nothing if they were not : but the parliament knew
how to limit a particular favour, and prevent it from
extending to a public mifchief Henry the eighth
took an expeditious v^^ay of obviating part of the con-
troverlies that might arife from the multitude of his
wives, by cutting off the heads of fom.e as foon as
he was weary of them, or had a mind to take
another ; but having been hindered from dealing in
the fame manner with Catherine by the greatnefs of
her birth and kindred, he left fuch as the parliament
only could refolve. And no lefs power would ever
have thought of making Mary and Elizabeth capable
of the fucceifion, when, according to ordinary rules,
one of them muft have been a baftard -, and it had
been abfurd to fay, that both of them wxre imm.e-
diately upon the death of their predeceffors pofiefs'd
of the crown, if an afl: of parliament had not con-
ferred the right upon them, which they could not
have by birth. But the kings and princes of England
have not been of a temper different from thofe of
other nations : and many examples may be brought
of the like occafions of difpute happening every
where ; and the like will probably be for ever ;
which muft neceifarily introduce the moft mif-
chievous confufions, and expofe the titPs which
(as is pretended) are to be efteemed moft facred, to
be overthrown by violence and fraud, if there be
not in all places a pov/er of deciding the controver-
lies that arife from the uncertainty of titles, accord-
ing to the refpedive law^s of every nation, upon which
they are grounded : no man can be thought to have
a juft title, till it be (o adjudged by that powxr :
this judgment is the firft ftep to the throne : the

oath

170 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

oath taken by the king obliges him to obferve the
laws of his country ; and that concerning the fuc-
ceffion being one of the principal, he is obliged ^ to
keep that part as well as any other.

SECT. XIX.

T^he greatefl enemy of a jiijl magtjlrate is he who
endeavours to invalidate the contradi between him
and the people^ or to corrupt their mantiers.

5^ I ^IS not only from religion, but from the law
I of nature, that we learn the neceflity of
{landing to the agreements we make ; and he who
departs from the principle written in the hearts of
men paclis ftandum, feems 10 degenerate into a beaft.
Such as had virtue, tho' w^ithout true religion, could
tell us (as a brave and excellent Grecian did) that it
was not necelTary for him to live^ but it was necef-
fary to preferve his heart from deceit, and his tongue
from falfhood. The Roman fatyrift carries the fame
notion to a great height, and affirms, that * " tho*
" the worft of tyrants fhould com.mand a man to
" be falfe and perjur'd, and back his Injundlion with
" the utmoft of torments, he ought to prefer his in-
*' tegrity before his life " And tho' Filmer may be
excufed if he often miftake in matters of theology;
yet his inclinations to Rome which he prefers before
Geneva, might have led him to the principles in
which the honeft Romans lived, if he had not ob-
ferved that fuch principles as make men honeft and
generous, do alfo make them lovers of liberty, and
conftant in the defence of their country : which fa-
vouring too much of a republican fpirit, he prefers

*

-Phalaris licet imperet ut fis
Falfus, & admoto didet perjuria tauro,
Suinnium crede nefiis animam prseferre pudori. Juuenal.

the

Sea. 19- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 171

the morals of that city, fince they are become more
refined by the pious and charitable Jefuits, before
thofe that were remarkable in themi, as long as they
retained any fhadow of their antient integrity, which
admitted of no equivocations and detefted prevarica-
tions ; by that means preferving innocence in the
hearts of private men for their inward contentment,
and in civil focieties for the public good ; which if
once extinguifli'd, mankind muft neceflarily fall in-
to the condition Hobbes rightly calls *' bellum om-
'' nium contra omnes," wherein no man can pro-
mife to himfelf any other wife, children or goods,
than he can procure by his own fword.

Some may perhaps think that the endeavours of
our author to introduce fuch accurfed principles, as
tend to the ruin of mankind, proceed from his ig-
norance. But tho' he appears to have had a great
meafure of that quality, I fear the evil proceeds
from a deeper root 3 and that he attempts to pro-
mote the interefts of ill magiftrates, who make it
their bufinefs to deftroy all good principles in the
people, with as much induftry as the good endea-
vour to preferve them where they are, and teach
them where they are wanting. Reafon and expe-
rience inilrudl us, that every man ad:s according to
the end he propofes to himfelf. The good magif-
trate feeks the good of the people committed to his
care, that he may perform the end of his inftitution :
and knowing that chiefly to ccnfift in juftice and
virtue, he endeavours to plant and propagate them ; •
and by doing this he procures his own good as wxU
as that of the public. He knows there is no fafety
where there is no flrength, noflrength without union,
no union without juftice; no juftice where faitii
and truth, in accompli (hing public and private con-
trafts, is wanting. This he perpetually inculcates,

and

172 DISCOURSES Chap. HI.

^nd thinks it a great part of his duty, by precept
and example, to educate the youth in a love of vir-
tue and truth, that they may be feafoned with them,
and fxlled with an abhorrence of vice and falfliood,
before they attain that age which is expofcd to the
moft violent temptations, and in which they may
by their crimes bring the greateft mifchiefs upon the
public. He would do all this, tho' it were to his own
prejudice. But as good adions always carry a reward
with them, thefe contribute in a high meafure to
his advantage. By preferring the intereft of the
people before his own, he gains their affection, and
all that is in their power comes w ith it ; whilft he
unites them to one another, he unites all to himfelf :
in leading them to virtue, he increafes their ftrength,
and by that means provides for his own fafety^ glo-
ry and power.

On the other fide, fuch as feek different ends muft
take different ways. When a magiflrate fancies he
is not made for the people, but the people for him -,
that he does not govern for them, but tor himfelf;
and that the people live only to increafe his glory,
or furnilli matter for his pleafures, he does not in-
quire what he may do for them, but what he may
draw from them.. By this means he fets up an in-
tereft of profit, pleafure or pomp in himfelf, repug-
nant to the good of the public for which he is made
to be what he is. Thefe contrary ends certainly di-
vide the nation into parties ; and whilft every one
endeavours to advance that to which he is addifted,
occafions of hatred for injuries every day done, or
thought to be done and received, muft neceifarily
arife. This creates a moft fierce and irreconcileable
enmity, becaufe the occafions are frequent, impor-
tant and univerfal, and the caufes thought to be
moft juft. The people think it the greateft of all

2 crimes^

Sea. 19. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 173

crimes, to convert that power to their hurt, which
was inftituted for their good ; and that the injuftice
is aggravated by perjury and ingratitude, which
comprehend all manner of ill -, and the magiftrate
gives the name of fedition or rebellion to whatfoe-
ver they do for the prefervation of themfelves and
their own rights. When men s fpirits are thus pre-
pared, a fmall matter fets them on fire ; but if no
accident happen to blow them into a flame, the
courfe of jufiice is certainly interrupted, the public
affairs are negleded 5 and when any occafion whether
foreign or domeftic arifes, in which the magiflrate
ftands in need of the peoples afli fiance, they, whofe
affedtions are alienated, not only fliew an unwill-
ingnefs to ferve him with their perfons and edates,
but fear that by delivering him from his diftrefs they
ftrengthen their enemy, and enable him to opprefs
them : and he fancying his will to be unjuftly of; /It
pofed, or his due more unjuftly denied, is filled
with a diflike of w^hat he fees, and a fear of worfe
for the future. Whilft he endeavours to eafe him-
felf of the one, and to provide againfl the other, he
ufually increafes the evils of both, andjealoufies are
on both fides multiplied. Every man knows that
the governed are in a great meafure under the power
of the governor ; but as no man, or number of men,
is: willingly fubjefl: to thofe who feek their ruin, fuch
as fall into fo great a misfortune, continue no long-
er under it than force, fear, or neceflity may be able
to oblige them. But as fuch a neceflity can hard-
ly lie longer upon a great people, than till the evil
be fully difcovered and comprehended, and their
virtue, ftrength and power be united toexfclit;
the ill magiftrate looks upon all things that may
conduce to that end, as fo many preparatives to his
ruin 3 and by the help of thofe who are of his party,

will

1 74 DISCOURSES Chap. HL

will endeavour to prevent that union, and diminiih
tiiat ftrength, virtue, power and courage, which he
knows to be bent againft him. And as truth, faith-
ful dealing, due performance of contracts, and in-
tegrity of manners, are bonds of union, and helps
to good, he will always by tricks, artifices, cavils,
and all means poffible endeavour to eftablifli falf-
hood and diflionefly ; whilft other emifTaries and
inftruments of iniquity, by corrupting the youth,
and feducing fuch as can be brought to lewdnefs
and debauchery, bring the people to fuch a pafs,
that they may neither care nor dare to vindicate
their rights, and that thofe who would do it, may
fo far fufpe6l each other, as not to confer upon,
much lefs to join in any adion tending to the public
deliverance.

This diflinguifhes the good from the bad magif-
(t rate, the faithful from the unfaithful ; and thofe
who adhere to either, living in the fame principle,
muft walk in the fame ways. They who uphold
the rightful power of a juft magiftracy, encourage
virtue and juftice, teach men what they ought to
do, fuffer, or exped; from others ; fix them upon
principles of honefty, and generally advance every
thing that tends to the increafe of the valour,
ftrength, greatnefs and happincfs of the nation, cre-
ating a good union among them, and bringing every
man to an exadt underftanding of his own and the
public rights. On the other fide, he that would
introduce an ill magiftrate ; make one evil who was
good, or preferve him in the exercife of injuftice
when he is corrupted, muft always open the way
for him by vitiating the people, corrupting their
manners, deftroying the validity of oaths and con-
tracts, teaching fuch evafions, equivocations and'
frauds, as are inconfiftent with the thoughts that

2 become

Sea. 19. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. iy3

become men of virtue and courage 5 and overthrow-
ing the confidence they ought to have in each other,
make it impoffible for them to unite among them-
felves. The Hke arts muft be ufcd v^'ith the magif-
trate: he cannot be for their turn, till he is perfuad-
ed to believe he has no dependance upon, and owes
no duty to the people 3 that he is of himfelf, and
not by their inftitution ; that no man ought to in-
quire into, nor be judge of his actions ; that all
obedience is due to him, whether he be good or bad,
wife or foolifli, a father or enemy to his country.
This being calculated for his perfonal intereft, he
muft purfue the fame deligns, or his kingdom is di-
vided within itfelf, and cannot fubiift. By this
means thofe who flatter his humour, come to be
accounted his friends, and the only men that are
thought worthy of great trufts, whilft luch as are of
another mind are expofed to all perfecution. Thefe ')
are always fuch as excel in virtue, wifdom, and
greatnefs of fpirit ; they have eyes, and they will
always fee the way they go 3 and leaving fools to be
guided by implicit faith, will diftinguiih between
good and evil, and choofe that which is beft; they
will judge of men by their adions, and by them dif-
covering whofe fervant every man is, know whether
he is to be obeyed or not. Thofe who are ignorant of
all good, careleis or enemies to it, take a more com-
pendious way ; their flavifli, vicious and bafe natures
inclining them to feek only private and prefent ad-
vantages, they eafily flide into a blind dependance
upon one who has wealth and power -, and defiring
only to know his wilf care not what injuftice they
do, if they may be rewarded. They worfliip what
they find in the temple, tho' it be the vileft of idols,
and always like that beft which is worft, becaufe it
agrees with their inclinations and principles. When

a

iy6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

a party comes to be ereded upon fuch a foundation,
debauchery, ' lewdnefs and diilionefl)^ are the true
badges of it. Such as Vv'ear them are cheriflied 5
but the principal marks of favour are referved for
thofe who are the moft induilrious in mifchief,
either by feducing the people with the allurements of
fenfual pleafures, or corrupting their underftandings
by falie and flavifh dodrines. By this means a
man who calls himfelf a philofopher or a divine, is
often more ufeful than a great number of tapfters,
cooks, buffoons, players, fidlers, whores or bawds.
Thefe are the devil's minifters of a lower order ;
they feduce fingle perfons, and fuch as fall into their
fnares are for the moft part of the fimpler fort : but
the principal fupporters of his kingdom, are they,
who by falfe dodrines poifon the fprings of religion
and virtue, and by preaching or writing (if their
falfliood and wickednefs v/ere not deteded) would
extinguifti all principles of common honefty, and
bring; whole nations to be beft fatisfied with them-
felves, when their adions are moft abominable.
And as the means muft always be fuitable to the end
propofed, the governments that are to be efta*
bliihed or fupported by fuch ways muft needs
be the worft of all, and comprehend all manner of
evil.

SECT. XX.

XJnjii/l commands are not to be cbeyd ; and no man
is obliged to fiiffer for not obeying fuch as are againjt
law,

N the next place cur author gravely propofes a
queftion, ** Whether it be a fm to diiobcy the
king, if he command any thing contrary to law ?"
and as gravely determines, '' that not only in human

" laws.

^

(C

<<

cc

(C

cc
(<
<c

Sea, 20. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 1 7 7

laws, but even in divine, a thing may be com-
manded contrary to law, and yet obedience to
fuch a command is necefTary. The fandlifying of
the fabbath is a divine law, yet if a mailer com
mand his fervant not to go to church upon a fab-
bath day, the beft divines teach us, the fervant
mufl: obey, &c. It is not fit to tie the mailer to
acquaint the fervant with his fecret counfel." Tho*
he frequently contradicts in one line what he fays in
another, this whole claufe is uniform and fuitable
to the main defign of his book. He fets up the
authority of man in oppolition to the command of
God, gives it the preference, and fays, the beft
divines inftrud: us fo to do. St. Paul then muft have
been one of the worft, for he knew that the powers
under which he lived, had under thefevereft penalties
forbidden the publication of the gofpel ; and yet he
fays, " Wo to me if I preach it not." St. Peter was
no better than he, for he tells us, " That it is better
" to obey God than man:" and they could not fpeak
other wife, unlefs they had forgotten the words of
their mafter, who told them, *' They fhould not
*' fear them that could only kill the body, but him
'^ who could kill and caft into hell." And if I
muft not fear him that can only kill the body, not
only the reafon, but all excufe for obeying him is
taken away.

To prove what he fays, he cites a pertinent ex-
ample from St. Luke*, and very logically concludes,
that becaufe Chrift reproved the hypocrify of the
Pharifees, (who generally adhered to the external and
circumftantial part of the law, neglecting the effential,
and taking upon themfelves to be the interpreters of
that which they did not underftand) the law'of God
IS not to be obeyed : and as ftrongly proves, that

* Chap, xlv.

.. Vol, IL N becaufe

178 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

becaufe Chrift fliewed them that the fame law, which
by their own confeflion permitted them to pull an afs
oat of a pit on the fabbath day, could not but give
a liberty of healing the lick, therefore the comm.ands
of kings are to be obeyed, tho' they fhould be con-
trary to human and divine laws. But if perverfenefs
had not blinded him, he might have feen, that this
very text is wholly again! l his purpofe; for the ma-
giftratical power was on the fide of the Pharifees,
otherwife they would not have fought an occafion to
enfnare him -, and that power having perverted the
law of God by falfe gloffes, and a fuperindud:ion of
human traditions, prohibited the moft neceffary afts
of charity to be done on the fabbath day, which
Chrift reproved, and reftored the lick man to his health
in their fight.

But I could wifh our author had told us the names
of thofe divines, who, he fays, are the beft, and
who pretend to teach us thefe fine things. I know
fome who are thought good, that are of a contrary
opinion, and lay that God having required that day
to be fct apart for his fervice and worfliip, man can-
not difpenfe with the obligation, unlefs he can abro-
gate the law of God. Perhaps, for want of other
arguments to prove the contrary, I may be told, that
this favours too much of Puritanifm and Calvinifm.
But I fl:iall take the reproach, till fome better patrons
than Laud and his creatures may be found for the ^^
other opinion. By the advice and iniligation of |l
thefe men, from about the year 1630, to 1640, 1)
fports and revelings, which ended for the moft part
in drunkennefs and lewdnefs, wxre not only permitted "t
on that day, but enjoined. And tho' this did ad- '*
vancc human authority in derogation to the divine,
to a degree that may pleafe fuch as are of our author's
mind, yet others reiblving rather to obey the laws

of

I

J

sea. 20. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, ipg

of God than the commands of men, could not be
brought to pafs the Lord's day in that manner^
Since that time no man except Filmer and Heylin
has been To wicked to conceive, or fo impu-^
dent to ailert fuch brutal abfurdities. But leaving
the farther coniideration of the original of thisabufe,
I deiire to know, whether the authority given to
mafters to command things contrary to the law of
God, be peculiar in relation to the fabbath, or to a
few other points, or ought generally to extend to all
God's laws ; and whether he who may command his
fervant to a6t contrary to the law of God, have not
a right in himfelf of doing the fame ? If peculiar,
fome authority or precept muft be produced, by
which it may appear that God has flighted his ordi-
nance concernino; that day, and' fufl^er'd it to be
jcontemned, whilft he exadls obedience to all others.
If we have a liberty left to us of flighting others alfo^
•jmore or lefs in number, we ought to know how
-many, w^hat they are, and how it comes to pafs, that
ibme are of obligation and others not. If the empire
-of the world is not only divided between God and
.Caefar, but every man alio who can give five pounds
-a year to a fervant, has (o great a part in it, that in
•fome cafes his commands are to be obeyed preferably
lo thofc of God, it v/ere fit to know the limits of
each kirigdom^ lefl: v/e happen prepofteroufly to obey
man when we ought to obey God, or God whea
nve are to follow the commands of men. If it be
general, the law of God is of no efted:, and we
may fafely put an end to all thoughts and difcourfes
of religion : the word of God is nothing to us ^ we
are not to enquire what he has commanded, but what
pleafes our maflier, how infolent, fooliili, vile or
wicked foever he may be. The apoftlesand prophets,
who d'rtd for preferring the commands of God be-

N 2 fore

iSo DISCOURSES Chap. IH.

fore thofe of men, fell like fools, and perijfhed in
their fins. But if every particular man that has a
fervant, can exempt him from the commands
of God, he may alfo exempt himfelf, and the
laws of God are at once abrogated throughout the
world.

'Tis a folly to fay there is a paffive, as well as an
active obedience, and that he who will not do what
his mafter commands ought to fuffer the punifhment
he inflicts: for if the mafter has a right of com-
manding, there is a duty incumbent on the fervant
of obeying. He that fuffers for not doing that which
he ought to do, draws upon himfelf both the guilt
and the puniiliment. But no one can be obliged
to fufter for that which he ought not to do, becaufe
he who pretends to command, has not fo far an
authority. However, our queftion is, whether the
fervant, fliould forbear to do that which God com-
mands, rather than whether the mafter ihould put
away or beat him if he do not : for if the fervant
ought to obey his mafter rather than God, as our
author fays the heft divines allert, he fins in difobey-
ing, and that guilt cannot be expiated by his fuifering.
If it be thought I carry this point to an undue ex-
tremity, the limits ought to be demonftrated, by
which it may appear that I exceed them, tho' the
nature of the cafe cannot be altered: for if the law
of God may not be abrogated by the commands of
men, a fervant cannot be exempted from keeping the
fabbath according to the ordinance of God, at the
will of his mafter. But if a power be given to man
at his pleafure to annul the laws of God, the apoftles
ought not to have preached, when they were for-
bidden by the powers to which they were fubjed: :
the tortures, and deaths they fuiFer'd for not obey-

Sea. 20. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. i8r

ing that command were in their own wrong, and
their blood was upon their own heads.

His fecond inftance concerning wars, in which
he fays the fubjedl is not to examine whether they
are juft or unjuft, but muft obey, is weak and
frivolous, and very often fahe^ whereas confe-
quences can rightly be drawn from fuch things on-
ly as are certainly and univerfally true. Tho' God
may be merciful to a foldier, who by the wicked -
nefs of a magiftrate whom he honeftly trufts, is
made a minifter of injuflice, *tis nothing to this cafe.
For if our author fay true, that the word of a kirij>;
can juftify him in going againft the command of
God, he muft do what is commanded tho' he think it
evil : the Chriftian foldiers under the Pagan emperors
were obliged to deftroy their brethren, and the beft
men in the world for being fo : fuch as now live un-
der the Turk have the fame obligation upon them of
defending their mafter, and flaughtering thofe he re-
putes his enemies for adhering to Chriftianity : and
the king of France may when he pleafes, arm one
part of his proteftant fubjedls to the deftrudtion of
the other -, which is a Godly dodlrine, and worthy
our author's invention.

But if this be fo, I know not how the Ifraelites
can be faid to have fmned in following the examples
of Jeroboam, Omri, Ahab, or other wicked kings :
they could not have finned in obeying, if it had been
a fin to difobey their commands ; and God would
not have puniflied them fo feverely, if they had
not finned. 'Tis impertinent to fay they were obliged
to ferve their kings in unjuft wars, but not to ferve
idols ; for tho' God be jealous of his glory, yet he
forbids rapine and murder as well as idolatry. If
there be a law that forbids the fubjeft to examine
tlie commands tending to the one, it cannot but en-

N 3 join

j$2 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

join obedience to the other. The fame authority
which juftifies murder, takes away the guilt of ido-
latry ^ and the wretches, both judges and witneffes,
who put Naboth to death, could as little alledge
ignorance, as thofe that worfliipped Jeroboam's
calves ; the fame light of nature by which they
fhould have known, that a ridiculous image was not
to be adored as God, inflrucfting them alfo, that an
innocent m.an ought not under pretence of law to be
ipurdered by perjury,

SECT. XXI.

Jt ccnnot befo?- the good of the people that the ma^
gijlrate have a powtr above the law : a?id he is net
a magiflro.te ivho has not his powe?- by law,

/"T^HAT we may not be difpleafed, or think It
I dangerous and flavifli to depend upon the
will of a man, which perhaps may be irregular oi*
extravagant in one who is fubje(5l to no law, our
author very dextroufly removes the fcruples by telU
}ng us,

1. *' That the prerogative of the king to be above
*^ the law, is only for the good of them that are
"^^ under the law, and to preferve their liberties."

2. *^ That there can be no laws without a fu-
*^ preme pinver to command or make them : in

ariftccracies the noblemen are above the law ; in
democracies the people : by the like reafon in a
m.onarchy, the king muft of neceflity be above
the law. There can be no fovereign majefly in
*' hira that is under the law : that which gives the
very being to a king, is the power to give laws,
Witliout this povvTr he is but an equivocal king*
^- It fklHs not how he comes by this power, whether
^^ by eledjon, donation, fucceflion, or any other

cc

cc

means,'^

Sea. 2 r . CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 1 8 3

*' means." I am contented in fome degree to fol-
low our author, and to acknowledge that the king
neither has nor can have any prerogative v/hich is
not for the good of the people, and the prefervation
of their liberties. This therefore is the foundation
of magiftratical power, and the only way of dif-
cerning whether the prerogative of making lav/s,
of being above laws, or any other he may pretend,
be juftly due to him or not : and if it be doubted
who is the fittefl judge to determine that queffion,
common fenfe will inform us, that if the ma2;ifl:rate
receive his power by eleftion or donation, they who
elecSt, or give him that power, beft know whether
the good they fought be performed or not ; if by
fucceliion, they who inftituted the fucceflion ; if
otherwife, that is, by fraud or violence, the point
is decided, for he has no fight at all, and none can
be created by thofe means. This might be faid,
tho' all princes were of ripe age, fober, wife, yoSk.
and good ; for even the beft are fubjed: to miftakes
and paffions, and therefore unfit to be judges of their
own concernments, in which they may by various
means be mifguided : but it would be extrem.e mad-
nefs to attribute the fame to children, fools, or mad-
men, who are not able to judge of the leaft things
concerning themfelves or others ; but moft efpecial-
ly to thofe who, coming in by ulurpation, declare
their contempt of all human and divine laws, and
are enemies to the people they opprefs. None there-
fore can be judges of fuch cafes but the people, for
whom and by whom the conftitutions are made ;
or their reprefentatives and delegates, to whom they

■give the power of doing it.

But nothing can be more abfurd than to fay, that
one man has an abfolute power above law to govern
according to his wdll, *' for the people's good, aad

(.?* the prefervation of their liberty;" for no liberty

N 4 can

i84 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

can fubfift where there is fuch a power; and we
have no other way of dlftinguiihing between free
nations and fuch as are not fo, than that the free
are governed by their own laws and magiftrates ac-
cording to their own mind, and that the others
either have willingly fubjefted themfelves, or are by
forcel)rought under the power of one or more men,
to be ruled according to his or their pleafure. The
fame diilindlion holds in relation to particular per-
fons. He is a free man who lives as befl pleafes
himfelf, under laws made by his own confent ; and
the name of ilave can belong to no man, unlefs to
him who is either born in the houfe of a mafter,
bought, taken, fubdued, or willingly gives his ear
to be nailed to the poft, and fubjeds himfelf to the
will of another. Thus were the Grecians faid to
be free in oppofition to the Mcdes and Perfians, as
■^ Artabanus acknowledged in his difcourfe to The-
miftocles. In the fame manner the Italians, Ger-
mans and Spaniards were diftinguifli'd from the
eaftern nations, who for the moft part were un-
der' the power of tyrants, Rome was faid to
have recovered liberty by the expulfion of the
Tarquins ; or as Tacitus expreffes it, -j- '' Lucius
^' Brutus eftabliflied liberty and the confulate to-
*' gether,'* as if before that time they had never
enjoyed any ; and Julius Caefar is faid to have over-
thrown the liberty of that people. But if Filmer
deferve credit, the Romans were free under Tar-
quin, enflaved when he was driven away, and his
. prerogative extinguifh'd, that was fo neceilarily re-
quired for the defence of their liberty ; and were
never reftored to it, till Caefar afTum'd all the power
to himfelf By the fame rule the Switzers,

* Plat. vit. Themlft.

f Libertatem & confulatum L. Brutus inflitult. J//. L i.

Grifons^

5ea.2i. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 185

-Grifons, Venetians, Hollanders, and fome other
nations are now flaves , and Tufcany, the kingdom
of Naples, the ecclefiaftical ftate, with fuch as live
under a more gentle mafter on the other fide of the
water, I mean the Turk, are free nations. Nay the
Florentines, who complain of flavery under the houfe
of Medicis, were made free by the power of a
Spanifh army who fet up a prerogative in that gentle
family, which for their good has deilroyed all that
could juftly be called fo in that country, and almoft
,wholly difpeopled it. I, who efteem myfelf free,
becaufe I depend upon the Will of no man, and
.hope to die in the liberty I inherit from my ancef-
tors, am a flave ; and the Moors or Turks, who
may be beaten and kilFd whenever it pleafes their
.infolent mafters, are free men. But furely the world
is not fo much miftaken in the fignification of words
and things. The weight of chains, number of
. ftripes, hardnefs of labour, and other effeds of a
imafter's cruelty, may make one fervitude more mi-
ferable than another ; but he is a Have who ferves
the beft and gentleft man in the world, as well as he
who ferves the worft; and he does ferve him if he
■ muft obey, his commands, and depends upon his will.
For this reafon the * poet ingenioufly flattering a
good emperor, faid, that liberty was not more defir-
able, than to ferve a gentle mafler -, but ftill acknow-
• ledged that it was a fervice, diftind from, and contra-
ry to liberty : and it had not been a handfom compli-
ment, unlefs the evil of fervitude were fo extreme,
that nothing but the virtue and goodnefs of the
mafter could any way compenfate or alleviate it.
Now tho' it fhould be granted that he had fpoken
more like to a philofopher than a poet 5 that we
might take his words in the ftrideft fenfe, and think
It poflible to find fuch conveniencies in a fubjedion to

' . f Claudian. •

the

tS6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

the will of a good and wife mafter, as may balance
the lofs of liberty, it would be nothing to the
qoeftion ; becaufe that liberty is thereby acknow-
ledged to be deftroyed by the prerogative, which is
only infiitiited to preferve it. If it were true that
no liberty were to be preferred before the fervice of
a good mafter, it could be of no ufe to the perifh-
ing world, which Filmer and his difciples would by
fuch arguments bring into a fubjedion to children,
ibols, mad or vicious men. Thefe are not cafes
feigned upon a diftant imaginary poflibility, but fo
frequently found amongft men, that there are few
examples of the contrary. And as 'tis folly to fup-
pofe that princes v^^ill always be wife, juft and good,
when we know that few have been able alone to
bear the weight of a government, or to refift the
temptations to ill, that accompany an unlimited
power, it would be madnefs to prefume they will
for the future be free from infirmities and vices.
And if they be not, the nations under them will
not be in fuch a condition of fervitude to a good
mafter as the poet compares to liberty, but in a mi-
ferable and fliameful fubjeftion to the will of thofe
who know not how to govern themfelves, or to do
good to others : tho' Moles, Jofluia and Samuel
had been able to bear the weight of an unreftrained
•power : tho' David and Solomon had never abufed
-that which they had ; what effe6l could this have
-upon a general propolition ? Where are the families
that always produce fuch as they were ? When did
God promife to affift all thofe who ftiould attain to
•the fovereign power, as he did them whom he chofe
for the works he defigned ? Or what teftimony can
tFilmer give us, that he has been prefent with all
:thofe who have hitherto reigned in the world ? But
if we knovv that no fuch thing either is oi* has been ;

and

Seft. 2T. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 187

and can find no pron^ife to afliire us, nor reafon to
hope that it ever will be, 'tis as fooliili to found the
hopes of preferving a people upon that which never
was, or is fo likely to fail, nay rather which in a
fhort time moft certainly will fail, as to root up
vines and figtrees in expectation of gathering grapes
and figs from thirties and briars. This would be
no lefs than to extinguifh the light of common fenfe,
to negledl the means that God has given us to
provide for our fecurity, and to impute to him a
difpofition of things utterly inconfiftent with his
wifdom and goodnefs. If he has not therefore or-^
der'd that thorns and thirties (liould produce figs and
grapes, nor that the moft important works in the
world, which are not without the utmoft difficulty,
if at all, to be performed by the bert and wifeft of
men, fhould be put into the hands of the weakeft,
mort foolifli and worrt, he cannot have ordain'd that
fuch men, women or children as happen to be born
in reigning families, or get the power into their
hands by fraud, treachery or murder (as very many
have done) fhould have a right of difpofing all
things according to their will. And if men cannot
be guilty of fo great an 'abfurdity to trurt the weak-
eft and wcrft with a power which ufually fubverts
the wifdom and virtue of the beft ; or to exped:
fuch efFedls of virtue and wifdom from thofe who
come by chance, as can hardly, if at all, be hoped
from the moft excellent, our author's propofition
can neither be grounded upon the ordinance of God,
nor the inftitution of man. Nay, if any fuch thing
had been eftablifhed by our firft parents in their
fimplicity, the utter impoffibility of attaining what
they expefted from it, muft wholly have abrogated
the eftablifliment: or rather^ it had been void frorn

the

i88 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

the beginning, becaufe it was not " a juft fand:ion,
** commanding things good, and forbidding the
*' contrary*,*' but a foolifh and perverfe fandlion,
fetting up the unruly appetite of one perfon to the
fubverfion of all that is good in the world, by making
the wifdoni of the aged and experienc'd to depend
upon the will of women, children and fools ; by
fending the ftrong and the brave to feek protedion
from the moil weak and cowardly, and fubjed:ing
the moft virtuous and beft of men to be deftroy'd by
% the moft wicked and vicious. Thefe being the
effecls of that unlimited prerogative, which our
author fays was only inftituted for the good and de-
fence of the people, it muft neceffarily fall to the
ground, unlefs flavery, mifery, infamy, deftrudion
and defolation tend to the prefer vation of liberty, and
are to be prefer'd before ftrength, glory, plenty,
fecurity and happinefs. The ftate of the Roman
empire after the ufurpation of Csfar will fet this
matter in the cleareft light; but haying done it already
in the former parts of this work, I content myfelf
to refer to thofe places. And tho' the calamities
they fuffer'd were a little allayed and moderated by
the virtues of Antoninus and M. Aurelius, with one
or two more, yet we have no example of the con-
tinuance of them in a family, nor of any nation
great or fmall that has been under an abfolute power,
which does not too plainly manifeft, that no man or
fucceffion of men is to be trufted with it.

But fays our author, '^ there can be no law where
M; there is not a fupreme power," and from thence
very ftrongly concludes it muft be in the king : for
^jy Other wife there can be no fovereign majefty in him,
^^ and'he is but an equivocal king.'' This might i]

* Sandio recla, jubens honefia, prohi^ens contraria. Ci(sro,

have

Sea:. 21. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 1K9

have been of fom^ force, if governments were
eftablifhed, and law^s made only to advance that
fovereign majefty ; but nothing at all to the purpole,
if (as he confelTes) the power which the prince has,
be given for the good of the people, and for the defence
of every private man's life, liberty, lands and goods :
-for that which is inftituted, cannot be abrogated for
w ant of that w^h ich was never intended in the inftitution .
If the public fafety be provided, liberty and property
fecured, juftice adminiftred, virtue encouraged, vice
fuppreifed, and the true intereft of the nation ad-
vanced, the ends of government are accomplifhed ;
and the higheft muft be contented with fuch a pro-
portion of glory and majefty as is confiftent with
the public; lince the magiftracy h not inftituted, nor
any perfon placed in it for the increafe of his ma-
iefty, but for the prefervation of the whole people,
and the defence of the liberty, life and eftate of every
private man, as our author himfelf is forced to
acknowledge.

t But what is this fovereign majefty, fo infeparable
from royalty, that one cannot fubfift without the
X)ther ? Caligula placed it in a power of * doing what
he pleafed to all men : Nimrod, Nabuchodonofor
and others, with an impious and barbarous infolence
boafted of the greatnefs of their power. They
thought it a glorious privilege to kill or fpare whom
they pleafed. But fuch kings as by God's permifiion
might have been fet up over his people, were to
'have nothing of this. They were not to multiply
gold, filver, wives, or horfes-f'; they were not to
govern by their own will, but according to the law;
from which they might not recede, nor raife their
hearts above their brethren. Here were kings with-

* Omnia mihi in omnesliccre, Sueton.

f Deut. xvii, «

out

,90 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

out that unlimited power, which makes up the
fovereign majefty, that Filmer affirms to be fo effen-
tial to kings, that without it they are only equivocal ;
which proving nothing but the incurable perverfenefe
of his judgment, the malice of his heart, or maligr
nity of his fate, always to oppofe reafon and. truths
we are to efteem thofe to be kings who are defcribed
to be fo by the fcriptures, and to give another name to
thofe who endeavour to advance their own glory,
<:ontrary to the precept of God and the intereft of
rnankind.

Butunlefs the light of reafon had been extlnguiflied
in him, he might have ftcn, that tho' no law could
be made without a fupreme power, that fupremacy
may be in a body confifting of many men, and
ieveral orders of men. If it be true, which perhaps
may be doubted, that there have been in the world
fimple monarchies, ariftocracies or democracies
legally eftablifhed, 'tis certain that the mofl pait of
the governments of the world (and I think all that
are or have been good) were mixed. Part of the
power has been confer'd upon the king, or the
magiftrate that reprefented him, and part upon th©
fenate and people, as has been proved in relation to
the governments of the Hebrews, Spartans, Romans,
Venetians, Germans, and all thofe who jive under
that which is ufually called the gothic polity. If
tlie fmgle perfon participating of this divided power
diilike either the name he beai's, or the authority he
has, he may renounce it: but no reafon can be
from thence drawn to the prejudice of nations^
who give fo much as they think confiftent with
their own good, and referve the reft to them*,
felves, or to fuch other officers as they plcafe to
eftablifli.

No

Sea. 21. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 191

No man will deny tliat feveral nations have had a
right of giving power to confuls, didlators, archons,
fuffetes, dukes and other magiftrates, in fuch pro-
portions as feemed moft conducing to their own good ;
and there muft be a right in every nation of allotting
to kings fo much as they pleafe, as well as to the
others, unlefs there be a charm in the word king,
or in the letters that compofe it. But this cannot
be ; for there is no iimilitude between king, Rex,
and Bazileus : they muft therefore have a right of
regulating the power of kings, as well as that of
confuls or didators ^ and it had not been more ridi-
culous in Fabius, Scipio, Camillus or Cincinnatus,
to aflert an abfolute power in himfelf, under pretence
of advancing his fovereign majefty againft the law,
than for any king to do the like. But as all nations
give what form they pleafe to their government, they are
alfo judges of the name to be impofed upon each mian
who is to have a part in the power: and 'tis as lawful
for us to call him king, who has a limited authority
amongftus, as for the Medes or Arabs to give the fame
name to one who is more abfolute. If this be not
admitted, we are content to fpeak improperly, but ut-
terly deny that when we give the name, we give any
thing more than we pleafe 5 and had rather his majefty
fhould change his name than to renounce our owji
rights and liberties which he is to preferve, and which
we have received from God and nature.

But that the folly and wickednefs of our author
may not be capable of any farther aggravation, he
fays, '* That it {kills not how he come by the
*' power.'* Violence therefore or fraud, treachery
or murder, are as good as election, donation or legal
fucceflion. 'Tis in vain to exam.ine the laws of
God or man 5 the rights of nature ; whether children
do inherit the dignities and magiftracies of their
I ' fathers;^

ij

192 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

fathers, as patrimonial lands and goods ; whether
regard ought to be had to the iitnefs of the perfon j
whether all iliould go to one, or be divided amongft
them ; or by what rule we may know who is the
right heir to the fucceflion, and confequently what
we are in confcience obliged to do. Our author
tells us in ihort, it matters not how he that has the
power comes by it.

It has been hitherto thought, that to kill a king
(efpecially a good king) was a moft abominable
adlion. They who did it, were thought to be in-
cited by the worft of paflions that can enter into the
hearts of men ; and the fevereft punifliments have
been invented to deter them from fuch attempts, or
to avenge their death upon thofe who Ihould accom-
plifh it : but if our author may be credited, it muft
be the moft commendable and glorious ad: that can
be performed by man : for befides the outward ad*
vantages that men fo earneftly delire, he that does
it, is prefently inverted with the fovereign majefty,
and at the fame time becomes God's vicegerent, and
the father of his country, poffeffed of that govern-
ment, which in exclulion to'all other forms is only fa-
voured by the laws of God and nature. The only in-
convenience is, that all depends upon fuccefs, and
he that is to be the minifter of God, and father of
his country if he fucceed, is the worft of all villains
if he fail ; and at the beft may be deprived of all
by the fame means he employed to gain it. Tho' a
prince fhould have the wifdom and virtues of Mo-
les, the valour of Joihua, David and the Macca-
bees, with the gentlenefs and integrity of Samuel,
the moft fooliih, vicious, bafe and deteftable man
in the world that kills him, and feizes the power,
becomes his heir, and father of the people that he
governed ; it Ikilis not how he did it, whether in

■ I i open

I

5ta. 2i, CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 193

open battle or by fecret treachery, in the field or in
the bed, by poifon or by the fword: the vileft flave in
Ifrael had become the Lord's anointed, if he could
have killed David or Solomon, and found villains
to place him in the throne. If this be right, the
world has to this day lived in darknefs, and the
actions which have been thought to be the mofl de-
teftable, are the moft commendable and glorious.
But not troubling my felf at prefent to decide this
queftion, I leave it to kings to confider how much
they are beholden to Filmer and his difciples, who
fet fuch a price upon their heads, as would render
it hard to preferve their lives one day, if the doc-
trines were received which they endeavour to infufe
into the minds of the people ; and concluding this
point, only fay, that we in England know no other-
king than he who is fo by law, nor any power in
that king except that which he has by law : and
tho' the Roman empire was held by the power of
the fword ; and Ulpian a corrupt lawyer undertakes
to fay, that " the prince is not obliged by the laws;"
yet Theodofius confeffed, that it was the glory of a
good emperor to acknowledge himfelf bound by
them^

SECT. XXII.

The rigour of the law is to be tempered by men of
known integi'ity and judgme?it^ and not by the
prince %vho tnay be ignorant or vicious,

OUR author's next fhift is to place the king
above the law, that he may mitigate the ri-
gour of it, without which he fays, ^' The cafe of
** the fubje<fl would be defperately miferable." But
this cure would prove worfe than the difeafe. Such
pious fathers of the people as Caligula, Nero or Do-
VoL. 11. • O mitian.

/

194 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

mitian, were not like to mitigate the rigour ; nor
fuch as inherit crowns in their infancy (as the pre-
fent kings of Spain, France and Sweden) fo well to
underftand the meaning of it as to decide extraor-
dinary cafes. The wifdom of nations has provided
more affured helps ; and none could have been fo
brutifli and negligent of the public concernments,
to fuffer the fucceffion to fall to Women, children,
&c. if they had not referved a power in themfelves
to prefer others before the neareft in blood, if reafon
require ; and prefer ibed fuch rules as might preferve
the public from ruin, notwithftanding their infirmi*
ties and vices. Thcfe helps provided by our laws,
are principally by grand and petit juries, who are
not only judges of matters of fadt, as whether a
man be killed, but whether he be killed criminally,
Thefe men are upon their oaths, and may be indid-
ed of perjury if they prevaricate : the judges are pre-
fent, not only to be a check upon them, but to ex-
plain fuch points of the law as may feem difficult.
And tho' thefe judges may be fald in fome fenfe to
be chofen by the king, he is not underflood to do
k other wife than by the advice of his council, who
cannot perform their daty, unlefs they propofefuch
as in their confciences they tliink moft worthy of
the office, and mod capable of performing the duty
rightly ; nor he accomplifli the oath of his corona-
tion, unlefs he admit thofe, who upon deliberation
feem to be the beft. The judges being thus chofen,
are fo far from depending upon the will of the king,
that they fwear faithfully to ferve the people as well
as the king*, and to do juftice to every man accord- |
ing to the law of the lantl, notvvithllandingany writs, j|
letters or commands received from him -, and in de- j
fault thereof they are to forfeit their bodieS;, lands ^

* i8 EJw. 111. cap. I,

and

Sea. 2 2. Concerning government. 195

and goods, as in cafes of treafon. Thefe laws have
been io often, and fo feverely executed, that it con-
cerns all judges well to conlider them; and the
cafes of Trelilian, Empfon, Dudley, and others
fliew, that neither the king s preceding command
nor fubfequent pardon could preferve them from the
punifhment they defer ved. All men knew that
what they did was agreeable to the king's pleafure^
for TrefiUan advanced the prerogative of Edward
the fecond, and Empfon brought great treafures in-
to the coffers of Henry the feventh. Neverthelefs
they were charged with treafon, for fubverting the
laws of the land^ and executed as traitors.- Tha'
England ought never to forget the happy reign of
Q^Elizabeth, yet it miift be acknowledged, that
{he as well as others had her failings. She was full
of love to the people, juft in her nature, fincere ia
her intentions ; but could not fo perfedtly difcovef
the fnares that were laid for her, or refill the im-
portunity of the perfons fhe mofi: trufted, as not
fometimes to be brought to attempt things againft
law. She and her counfellors prefTed the judges
^ery hardly to obey the patent under her great feal,
in the cafe of Cavendifh : but thev anfwered, " That
** both ihe and they had taken an oath to keep the
" law, and if they fhould obey her commands, the
•* law would not warrant them, &c*." And befides
the offence again ft God, their country, and the com-
monwealth, they alledged the example of Empfon
and Dudley, *' whereby, they faid, they wxre de-
" terred from obeying her illegal commands,''' They
who had fworn to keep the law not withftan ding the
king's writs, knevv that the law depended not upon
his will 1 and the fame oath that obheed them not
to regard any command they Ibould receive fr^m

'Anderfon'? Rep, p. X55.

,56 DISCOURSES Chap. Hi.

him, (lie wed that they were not to expeft indem-
nity by it, and not only that the king had neither
the power of making, altering, mitigating or in-
terpreting the law, but that he was not at all to be
heard, in general or particular matters, otherwife
than as he fpeaks in the common courfe of juftice,
by the courts legally eilabliflied, which fay the
fame thing, whether he be young or old, ignorant
or wife, v>^icked or good : and nothing does better
evidence the wifdom and care of our anceflors, in
framing the laws and government we live under,
than that the people did not fuffer extremities by
the vices or infirmities of kings, till an age more
full of malice than thofe in which they lived, had
found tricks to pervert the rule, and fruftrate their
honeft intentions. It was not fafe for the kings to
violate their oaths by an undue interpofition of their
authority ; but the minifters who ferved them in
thofe violations, have feldom efcaped puniihment.
This is to be underftood when the deviations from
juilice are extreme and mifchievous, for fomething
muft always be allowed to human frailty : The beft
have their defedls, and none could Hand if a too
exadl: fcrutiny were made of all their aftions. Ed-
ward the third, about the twentieth year of his
reign, acknowledged his own in parliament, and as
well for the eafe of his confcience, as the fatisfadion
of his people, promoted an ad:, '' Commanding
all judges to do juftice, notwithftanding any writs,
letters or commands from himfelf, and forbidding
thofe that belonged to the king, queen and prince,
*' to intermeddle in thofe matters." But if the beft
and wifeft of our princes, in the ftrength and ma-
turity of their years, had their failings, and every
a(5l proceeding from them that tended to the inter-
ruption of juftice was a failing, how can it be faid

that

Seel. 22. CONCERNING GOVERNxMENT. 197

that the king in his perfonal capacity, directly or
indiredlly, may enter into the dilcuffion of thefe
matters, much lefs to determine them according to
his will ?

" But, fays our author, the law is no better than
*' a tyrant ; general pardons at the coronation and
** in parliament, are but the bounty of the preroga-
*^ tive, &c. There may be hard cafes ;" and citing
fome perverted pieces from Ariftotle's ethics and
politics, adds, " That when fomething falls out
*' befides the general rule, then it is fit that what
" the lawmaker hath omitted, or where he hath
** erred by fpeaking generally, it fliould be corredl-
" ed and fupplied, as if the lawmaker were pre-
*' fent that ordained it. The governor, whether he be
*' one man or more, ought to be lord of thefe things,
" whereof it was impoflible that the law fliould
*' fpeak exactly ." Thefe things are in part true ;
but our author makes ufe of them as the devil does
of fcripture, to fubvert the truth. There may be
fomething of rigour in the law that in fome cafes
may be mitigated -, and the law itfelf (in relation to
England) does fo far acknowledge it, as to refer
much to the confclences of juries, and thofe who
are appointed to affift them ; and the moft difficult
cafes are referred to the parliament as the only judges
that are able to determine them. Thus the ftatute
of the 35 Edward III. enumerating the crimes
then declared to be treafon, leaves to future parlia-
ments to j udge what other fa6ts equivalent to them
may deferve the fame punifhment : and 'tis a general
rule in the law, which the judges are fworn to ob-
ferve, that difficult cafes fhould be referved till the par-
liament meet, who are only able to decide them : and
if there be any inconvenience in this, *tis becaufe they
do not meet fo frequently as the law requires^ or by

O 3 finiftei:

igS DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

{inifter means are interrupted in their fitting. But
nothing can be more abfurd than to fay, that becaufe
the king does not call parliaments as the law and his
oath requires, that power fliould accrue to him, which
the law and the confent of the nation has placed in
them.

There is alfp fucha thing in the law as a general
qr particular pardon, and the king may in fome de-
gree be entrufted with the power of giving it, efpeci?
ally for fuch crimes as merely relate to himfelf, as
^very man may remit the injuries dpne to himfelf j
but the confeffion of Edvv^ard the third, '' That the
^' oath of the crown had not been kept by reafon of
*^ thegrantof pardons contrary to ftatqtes*," and a
new ad made, " that all fuch charters of pardon
^' from henceforth granted againft the oath of the
^' crown and the faidftatutes, ihouldbeheld for none,'*
demonftrates that this power was not in himfelf, but
granted by the nation, and to be executed according
to fuch rules as the law prefcribed, and the parliameiit;
approved.

Moreover, there havingbeen many, andfometimes
bloody contefts for the crown, upon which the
nation v/as almoft equally divided j and it being
difficult for them to know, or even for us who have
^1} the parties before us, to judge which was the
better fide, it was underftood that he who came tq
be crown'd by the confent of the people, was ac?
peptable to all : and the queftion being determined, it
was ^o way fit that he fliould have a liberty to make
i:^fe of the public authority then in his hands, to re^
Venge fuch perfonal injuries as he had, or might
fuppofe to have received, which might raife new,
and perhaps more dangerous troubles, if the authors
pf them were ftill kept in fe^r of being profeguted |

* 14 Edw. III. !<.

mi

5ea. 22. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 199

and nothing could be more unreafonablc than that he
fliould employ his power to the deftrudlion of thofc
who had confented to make him king. This made
it a matter of courfc for a king, as foon as he was
crown'd, to iffuc out 2 general pardon, \vhicli was
no more than to declare, that being now what lie
was not before, he had no enemy upon any former
account. For this reafon Lewis the twelfth of France,
when he was incited to revenge himfelf again ft thofe,
who in the reign of his predeceffor Charles the eighth,
had caufed him to be imprifoned with great danger
of his life, made this anfwer, " That the king of
" France did not care to revenge the injuries done
" to the duke of Orleans :" and the laft king of
Sweden feemed no otherv/ife to remember who had
oppofed the queen's abdication, and his eled:ion,
than by conferring honours upon them ; becaufe he
knew they were the beft men of the nation, and fuch
as would be his friends when they fliould fee how he
would govern, in which he was not deceived. But
left all thofe who might come to the crown of
England, ftiould not have the fame prudence and
generofity, the kings were obliged by a cuftom of no
lefs force than a law, immediately to put an end to
all difputes, and the inconveniencies that might arife
from them. This did not proceed from the bounty
of the prerogative (which I think is nonfenfe, for
tho' he that enjoys the prerogative may have bounty,
the prerogative can have none) but from common
fenfe, from his obligation, and the care of his own
fafety j and could have no other efted: in law, than
what related to his perfon, as appears by the forem.en-
tioned ftatute.

Pardons granted by a£t of parliament are of another
nature : for as the king who has no other power

O 4 than

20O D I S C O U R S E S Chap. IIi;

than by law, can no otherwife difpenfe with the
crimes cammitted againft the laws, than the law
does enable him -, the parliament that has the
power of making laws, may intirely abolifli the
crimes, and unqueflionably remit the punifliment as
they pleafe,

Tho' fome words of Ariftotle's ethics are w^ith-
put any coherence fliufHed together by our author,
with others taken out of his politics, I do not much
lexcept again ll them. No law made by man
can be perfed:, and there muft be in every nation a
power of correcting fuch defed:s as in time may arife
or be difcovered. This power can never be fo rightly
placed as " in the fame hand that has the right of
■ ' making laws, whether in one perfon or in many/*
If Fihuer therefore can tell us of a place, where one
man, woman, or child, however he or (he be
qualified, has the power of making laws, I will
acknowledge that not only the hard cafes, but as many
others as he pleafcs, are referr'd to his or her judg-
ment, and that they may give it, whether they have
any underftanding of what they do or not, whether
they be drunk or fober, in their fenfes or ftark mad.
But as I know no fuch place, and Ihould not be
much concerned for the fufferings of a people that
Hiould bring fuch mifery upon themfelves, as muft
accompany an abfolute dependance upon the unruly
will of fuch a creature, I may leave him to feek it,
and reil in a perfedf affurance that he does not fpeak
of Enrfand, which acknowledees no other law
than its own ; and initead of receiving any from
kings, does to this day obey none, but fuch as have
been made by our anceflors, or ourfelves, and never
admitted any king that did not fwear to obferve
them.o And if Ariilotle deferve credit, the power

I of

Se6l. 23. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 201

of altering, mitigating, explaining or correding the
laws of England, is only in the parliament, becaufe
none but the parhament can make them.

SECT. XXIIL

Ariftotle proves^ that no 7nan is to be entrujled
with ari abfolttte power ^ by Jhewing that no one
knows how to execute it^ but fiich a man as is not to
be found.

OU R author having falfely cited and perverted
the fenfe of Ariftotle, now brings him in fay-
ing, '' That aperfeft kingdom is that wherein the
*' king rules all according to his own v/ill." But
tho' I have read his books of government with fome
attention, I can find no fuch thing in them, unlefs
the word which fignifies mere or abfolme may be
juftly tranflated into perfeB ; which is fo far from
Ariftotle's meaning, that he diflinguifhes the abfolute
or defpotical kingdoms from the legitimate 5 and
commending the latter, gives no better name than
that of barbarous to the firft, which he fays can agree
only with the nature of fuch nations as are bafe and
ftupid, little differing from beafts 3 and having no
fkill to govern, or courage to defend themfelves,
muft refign all to the will of one that will take care
of them. Yet even this cannot be done, unlefs he
that fhould take that care be wholly exempted from
the vices w^hich oblige the others to ftand in need of
it ; for otherwife 'tis no better than if a flieep fhould
undertake to govern flieep, or a hog to command
fwine; A riflotle plainly faying, " That as men are
*•* by nature equal, if it were pofiible all fhould be
[[ magiftrates *.'* But that being repugnant to the

* Arill. Pol. 1.2. c. I,

nature

i

202 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

nature of government, he finds no other way of
folving the difficulty, than by " obeying and com-
*' manding alternately ;" that they may do by turns
that which they cannot do all together, and to which
no one man has more right than another, becaufe they
are all by nature equal. This might be compofed
by a more compendious way, if, according to our
author's doftrine, poiTeffion could give a right. But
Ariftotle fpeaking like a philofopher, and not like a
public enemy of mankind, examines what is juft,
reafonable, and beneficial to men, that is, what ought
to be done, and which being done, is to be account-
ed juft, and therefore to be fupported by good men.
But as " that which is unjuft in the beginning, can
** never have the efFedt of juftice *;" and it being
manifeftly unjuft for one or a few men to aflTume a
power overthofe who by nature are equal to them,
no fuch power can be juft or beneficial to mankind j
nor fit to be upheld by good men, if it be unjuft and
prejudicial. In the opinion of Ariftotle, this natural
equality continues till virtue makes the diftindtion,
which muft be either fimply compleat and perfedl in
it felf, fo that he who is endued with it, is a God
among men, or relatively, as far as concerns civil
focietv, and the ends for which it is conftitu ted, that
is, defence, and the obtaining of juftice. This
requires a mind unbiaflid by pafiion, full of goodnefs
and wifdom, firm againft all the temptations to ill,
that may arife from defire or fear ; tending to all
manner of good, through a perfe(5t knowledge and
affedlion to it ^ and this to fuch a degree, that he or
thev have more of thefe virtues and excellencies than
all the reft of the fociety, tho' computed together -f- :

* Quod ab initio injuftum eft, nullum potell Iiabere juris eiFe»^um.
Qrot. de jur. bel. & pac, 1. 3.
f hx'A. Pol. i, 3,

where

Sea. 23. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 203

where fach a man is found, he is by nature a king,
and *tis beft for the nation where he is that he govern.
If a few men, tho' equal and alike among themfelves,
have the fame advantages above the reft of the
people, nature for the fame reafon feems to eftabhfli
an ariftocracy in that place; and the power is more
fafely committed to them, than left in the hands of
the multitude. But if this excellency of virtue do
not appear in one, nor in a few men, the right and
power is by nature equally lodged in all; and to
aifume or appropriate that power to one, or a few
men, is unnatural and tyrannical, which in Ariftotle s
language comprehends all that is deteftable and
abominable.

If any man fhould think Ariftotle a trifler, for
fpeaking of fuch a man as can never be found, I
finfwer, that he went as far as his way could be
warranted by reafon or nature, and was obliged to
ftop there by the defedl of his fubjecl. He could
not fay that the government of one was fimply good,
when he knew fo many qualifications were required
in the perfon to make it fo ; nor that it is good for
a nation to be under the power of a fool, a coward,
or a villain, becaufe *tis good to be under a man of
admirable wifdom, valour, induftry and goodnefs ^
pr that the government of one fhould be continued
in fuch as by chance fucceed in a family, becaufe it
was given to the firft who had all the virtues required,
tho' all the reafons for which the power was given
f^il in the fucceflbr j much lefs could he fay that
any government was good, which was not good
for thofe whofe good only it was conftituted to pro-
inpte.

Moreover, by fhewing who only is fit to be a
monarch, or may be made fuch, without violating
tJie laws q{ nature and juftice^ he (hews who cannot

204 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

be one : and he who fays that no fuch man is to
be found, as according to thex)pinion of Ariftotle
can be a monarch, does moift ridiculoufly alledge his
authority in favour of monarchs, or the power which
fome amongft us would attribute to them. If any
thing therefore may be concluded from his words,
'tis this, that fince no power ought to be admitted
which is not jufl ; that none can be jufi: which is not
good, profitable to the people, and conducing to
the ends for which it is conftituted ; that no man can
know how to direct the power to thofe ends, can
deferve, or adminifter it, unlefs he do fo far excel all
thofe that are under him in wifdom, juftice, valour
and goodnefs, as to poiTefs more of thofe virtues than
all of them : I fay, if no fuch man or fucceffion of
men be found, no fuch power is to be granted to
any man, or fucceffion of men. But if fuch power
be granted, the laws of nature and reafon are over-
thrown, and the ends for which focieties are confti-
tuted, utterly perverted, which neceffarily implies
an annihilation of the grant. And if a grant fo made
by thofe who have a right of fetting up a govern-
ment among themfelves, do perifh through its own
natural iniquity and perverfity, I leave it to any man,
whofe underftanding and manners are not fo intirely
corrupted as thofe of our author, to determine what
name ought to be given to that perfon, who not ex-
celling all others in civil and moral virtues, in the
proportion required by Ariftotle, does ufurp a power
over a nation, and w^hat obedience the people owe to
fuch a one, But if his opinion deferve our regard,
tlie king by having thofe virtues is Omnium Opti-
mus, and the beft guide to the people, " to lead
^' them to happinefs by the ways of virtue *."
And he who affumes the fame power, without the

* Ad funimum bonam fecundum virtutein. AriJl.Pol.

qualification^

Sea. 24. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 20 -

9

qualifications required, is Tyrannus omnium pefli-
mus, leading the people to all manner of ill, and
in confequence to deflrudtion,

SECT. XXIV.

T'he power of Auguftus Caefar was not ghen^ but

ufurped.

OUR author's next inflance is ingenioufly taken
from the Romans, '' Who, he fays, tho'
*' they were a people greedy of liberty, freed Au-
" guftus from the neceffity of laws." If it be true,
as he affirms, that fuch a prerogative is inftituted
only for the prefervation of liberty, they who are
moft greedy of it, ought to be mod forward in
eftablifhing that which defends it beft. But if the
'weight laid upon the words " greedy of liberty,'* &c.
render his memory and judgment liable to cenfure,
the unpardonable prevarication of citing any adl
done by the Romans in the time of Auguilus, as
done freely, fhews him to be a man of no faith.
^' Omnium jura in fe traxerat," fays Tacitus ^ of
Auguftus ; nothing was conferred upon him, he
took all to himfelf ; there could be nothing of right
in that which was wholly ufurped. And neither the
people or the fenate could do any thing freely, whilft
they were under the power of a mad corrupted fol-
diery, who firft betrayed, and then fubdued them.
The greateft part of the fenate had fallen at the
battle of Pharfalia, others had been gleaned up in
feveral places, the reft deftroyed by the profcriptions^
and that which then retained the name of a fenate,
was made up chiefly of thofe who had been his mi-
nifterSj in bringing the moft miferable flavery upon
their own country. The Roman liberty, and that

* Annal. 1, i.

bravery

2o6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

bravery of fpirit by which it had been maintained,
was not only aboliflbed, but almoft forgotten. All
conlideration of law and right was trampled under
foot ; and none could difpute with him, who by
the power of the fv/ord had feized the authority
both of the fenate and people. Nothing was fo
extravagant, that might not be extorted by the in-
folent violence of a conqueror, who had thirty mer-
cenary legions to execute his commands. The un»
corrupted part of the people that had efcaped the
fword of Julius, had either periflied with Hirtius
and Panfa, Brutus and Cailius, or been deftroyed by
die deteftable Triumvirate, Thofe that remained
could lofe nofhing by a verbal reiignation of their
liberty, which they had neither ftrength nor courage
to defend. The maglftracies were poiTefled by the
creatures of the tyrant ; and the people was com-
pofed of fuch as were either born under flavery,
and accuftomed to obev, or remained under the ter-
ror of thofe arms that had confumed the alfertors
of their liberty. Our author ftanding in need of
fome Roman example was obliged to feek it in aa
age, when the laws were fubverted, virtue extin-
guiihed, injuftice placed in the throne, and fuch as
would not be of the fame fpirit, expofed to the ut-
mofl crueltv. This was the time when the fovereim
maiefty fhined in glory -, and they who had raifed
it above the law, made it alfo the objedt of their re-
ligion, by adoring the flatues of their opprefTor.
The corruption of this court fpread itfelf over the
beft part of the w^orld -, and reduced the empire to
that irrecoverable weaknefs in which it languifli-
ed and periihed. This is the flate of things that
pleafes Filmer, and thofe that are like him, who
for the introduction of the fame among us, recom-
mend fuch an elevation of the fovereign majefty,

as

Se6l. 25. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 207

as is moft contrary to the laws of God and men,
abhorred by all generous nations, and moft efpecial-
ly by our anceftors, who thought nothing too dear
to be hazarded in the defence of themfelves and us
from it,

SECT. XXV.

Tl'be regal power was not the Jirjl in this nation ;
nor 7iece[farily to be continued y tho' it had been
thefirft.

TRUTH being uniform in it felf, thofe who
defire to propagate it for the good of man-
kind, lay the foundations of their reafonings in fuch
principles, as are either evident to common fenfe,
or eafily proved : but cheats and impoftors delight-
ing in obfcurity, fuppofe things that are dubious or
falfe, and think to build one falfhood upon another ;
and our author can find no better way to perfuade
us, that all our privileges and laws are from the
king, than by faying, ** That the firft power was*
the kingly power, which was both in this and all
other nations in the world, long before any laws
or any other kind of government was thought of j
from whence we muft neceffarily infer, that the-
" common law, or common cuftoms of this land
were originally the laws and commands of the
king." But denying both thefe points, I affirm,

1 . Firft, That there was a power to make kings
before there was any king.

2. Tho' kings had been the firft created magif-
T| trates in all places (as perhaps they were in fome) it
^i does not follow, that they muft continue for ever,
i| or that laws are from them.

I To the firft; I think no man will deny, that

cc

C(
(C

<(

2 king

£oB DISCOURSES- Chap. III.

king of that place. This people had a power -, for
no number of men can be without it: nay, this people
had a power of making Nimrod king, or he could
never have been king. He could not be king by
fucceflion, for the fcripture fliews him to havg
been the firft. He was not king by the right of
father, for he was not their father, Chufh, Cham,
with his elder brothers and father Noah being ftill
living ; and, which is v/orft of all, were not kings :
for if they v/ho lived in Nimrod's time, or before
him, neither were kings nor had kings, he that
ought to have been king over all by the right of
nature (if there had been any fuch thing in nature)
was not king. Thofe who immediately fucceeded
him, and muft have inherited his right, if he had
any, did not inherit or pretend to it : and therefore
he that Ihall now claim a right from nature, as father
of a people, muft ground it upon fomething more
certain than Noah's right of reigning over his chiU
dren, or it can have no ftrength in it.

Moreover, the nations who in and before the time
of Nimrod had jio kings, had power, or elfe they
could have performed no adt, nor conftituted any
other magi il rate to this day, w^hich is abfurd. There
was therefore a power in nations before there were
kings, or there could never have been any y and
Nimrod could never have been king, if the people
of Babylon had not made him king, which they
could not have done if they had not had a power of
making him fo. 'Tis ridiculous to fay he made
himfelf king, for tho' he might be ftrong and va-
liant, he could not be ftron^er than a multitude of
men. That which forces muft be ftronger than that
which is forced ; and if it be true, according to the
antient faying, that Hercules himfelf is not fufficient
to encounter two, 'tis fure more impofiible for one

man

Sea. 25. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 209

man to force a multitude, for that mufl be flrong-
er than he. If he came in by perfuafion, they who
v/ere pcrfuadcd, v/ere perfuaded to confent -that he
fliouid be kino;. That confent therefore made him
king. Butj ** Qui dat c&, dat modum ejQc:" They
who made him king, made him fuch a Icing as beft
pleafed tliemfeives. He had therefore nothing but
v/hat was given : his greatnefs and power mull be
from the multitude who gave it : and their laws
and liberties could not be from him : but their li-
berties were naturally inherent in themfelveSj and
their laws were the produd: of them.

There was a people that made Romulus king.
He did not make or beget that people, nor, for any
thing we know, one man of them. He could not
come in by inheritance, for he vras a bafiard, the
fon of an unknown man ; and when he died, the
riffht that had been conferred uDon him reverted to
the people, v/ho according to that right, cbofe Nu-
ma, rioflilius, Martins, Tarquinius Prifcus, and Ser-
vius, all ftrano-ers, and without anv other rie;ht than
what was beftow'd upon them : and Tarquinius Su~
perbus who invaded the throne ^ '' without the
"" com.mand of the people," was ejeckd, and the
governm.ent of kings abolifiicd by the fame pov/er
that had created it.

We know not certainly by what lav/ Mcfes ar.d
the judges created by the advice of Jethro, govern-
ed the Ifraelites ; but may probxbbf cor.yt6.ure it to
have been by that law which God had written in
the hearts of mankind ; and the people fubmitted
to the judgment of good and wife men, tho' they
were under no coercive power : but 'tis certain they
had a law and a regular magiftracy under v/hich they
lived, four hundred years before they had a king,

* Sine lufifn populi. T. Li-j, l. r.

Vol, II. P ibr

216 DISCOURSES Chap. IIj

for Saul was the firft. This law was not therefore from
the king, nor by the king 5 but the king was chofea
and made by the people, according to the liberty
they had by the law^ tho' they did not rightly foU
low the rules therein prefcribed, and by that means
brought deftrudtion upon themfelves.

The country in which we live lay long concealed
under obfcure barbarity, and we know nothing of
the firft inhabitants, but what is involved in fables
that leave us ftill in the dark. Julius Caefar is the
firft who fpeaks diftindlly of our affairs, and gives us
no reafon to believe there was any monarchy thenefta-
biiifhed amongft us. Caflivellaunus was occafionally
chofen by the nations that were moft expofed to the
violence of the Romans,* for the management of thofe
wars againft them. By others we hear of Boadicia,
Arviragus, Galgacus, and many more fet up after-
wards when need required 5 but we find no foot-
fteps of a regular fucceflion either by inheritance or
election. And as they had then no kings, or any
other general magiftrate, that can be faid to be
equivalent to a king, they might have had none at
all unlefs they had thought fit. Tacitus mentions
a fort of kings, ufed by the Romans to keep -j- na-
tions in fervitude to them 5 and tho' it were true
that there had been fuch a man as Lucius, and
he one of this fort, he is to be accounted only as a
Roman magiftrate, and fignifies no more to our dif-
pute, than if he had been called proconful, praetor,
or by any other name. However there was no feries
of them : that which was temporary and occafional,
depended upon the will of thofe, who thinking
there was occafion, created fuch a magiftrate, and

* Jul. Csef. comment. /. 5.
•\ Inter inltrumenta fervitutis reges habuere. C. Tacif.

omitted

Sea. 25. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 211

omitted to do fo, when the occafion ceafed, or was
thought to ceafe -, and might have had none at all,
if they had fo pleafed. The magiftracy therefore
was from them, and depended upon their will.

We have already mentioned the hiftories of the
Saxons, Danes and Normans, from which nations,
together with the Britons, we are defcended, and
finding that they were fevere affertors of their liber-
ties, acknowledged no human lavv^s but their own,
received no kings but fuch as fwore to obferve them,
and depofed thofe who did not well perform their
oaths and duty, 'tis evident that their kings were
made by the people according to the law ; and that
the law, by which they became \\ hat they were,
could not be from themfelves. Our anceftors were
fo fully convinced that in the creation of kings they
exercifed their own right, and were only to confider
what was good for themfelves that without regard
to the memory of thofe who had gone before, they
were accuftomed to take fuch as feemed mod li' e,
wifely, juftly and gently to perform their office^ refuf-
ed thofe that were fufpecSled of pride, cruelty, or any
other vice that might bring prejudice upon the pub-
lic, what title foever they pretended ; and removed
fuch as had been placed in the throne, if they did
not anfwer the opinion conceived of their virtue ;
which I take to be a manner of proceeding that
agrees better with the quality of mailers, making
laws and magiflrates for themfelves, than of flaves
receiving fuch as were impofed upon them.

2. To the fecond. Tho' it fhould be granted^
that all nations had at the firft been governed by kings,
It were nothing to the queftion 5 for no man or
number of men was ever oblig-ed to continue in the
errors of his predeceiSbrs. The authority of cuftom
as well a^^ of law (I mean in relation to the power

P 2 that

**

212 DISCOURSES Chap, til,

that made it to be) confifls only la its redlitude : and
the fame realbn which may have induced one or more
nations to create kings, when they knew no other
form of government, may not only induce them to
ict up another, if that be found inconvenient to them,
but proves mat they may as juftly do fo, as remove
a man, who perform.s not what was expected from
him. If there had been a rule given by God, and
written in tlie minds of men by nature, it muft have
been from the beginning, univerfal and perpetual 3 or
at leaft niuil have been obferved by the wifell and
beft inftrudled nations : which not being in any
meafure (as I have proved ah'eady) there can be no
realbn, why a pohte people fl:iould not relinquifli the
errors committed by their anceftors in the time of
their barbarifm and ignorance, and why they fhould
not do it in matters of government, as well as in
any other thing relating to life. Men are fubjedt to
errors, and 'tis thje work of the beft and wifeft to
difcover and am^end fuch as their anceftors m.av have
committed, or to add perfedion to thofe things which
by them have b«^en well invented. This is fo certain,
that whatfoever wo enjoy beyond the mifery in which
our barbarous an ceftors lived, is due only to the liberty
of correding what Vv^as amifs in their pracStice, or in-
venting that which they did not know : and I doubt
whether it be more brutifta to fay we are obliged to
continue in the idolatry of the Druids, v/ith all the
miferies and follies that accompany the m.oft favage
barbarity, or to confefs that tho' we have a right to
depart from thefe, yet we are for ever bound to con-
tinue the government they had eftablifhed, what-
ever inconveniencies miight attend it. Tertullian
difputing with the Pagans, who objected the no-
velty of tlie chriftian religion, troubled not himfelf
s 2 with

Sea. 25- CONCERNING GOVERNxMENT. 2t-

with refuting that error ; ^' hut proving chriftianity
to be good and true, he thought h.e had fufliciently
proved it to be antient. A wife archited may flicw
his fkiil, and defervc commendation for building a
poor houfe of vile materials, vvlien he can procure
no better, but he no way ought to hinder others from
eredting more glorious fabrics, if they are furniflx^d
with the means required, Befides, fuch is the im-
perfection of all human conilitations, that they are
fubjedl to perpetual fluduation, which never permits
them to continue long in the fame condition : cor-
ruptions Hide in infenfibly ; and the bed orders are
fometimes fubverted by malice and violence ; fo that
he who only regards what was done in fuch an age,
often takes the corruption of the ftate for the inftitu-"
tion, follows the worft example, thinks that to be
the firft, that is the mofl antient he knows j and if a
brave people feeing the original defeds of their
government, or the corruption into which itrTiay be
fallen, do either corred and reform what may be
amended, or abolifh that w^hich was evil in the
inftitution, or fo perverted that it cannot be refcor'd
to inteeritv, thefe men impute it to fedition, and
blame thofe adions, which of all that can be per-
formed by men are the m.ofl; glorious. We are not
therefore fo much to inquire after that which is moit
antient, as that w^hich is beft, and m.of!: conducing to
the good ends to which it was direded. As govern-
ments were inftil'uted for the obtaining: of iuftice,
and (as our author fays) the prefcrvation of liberty,.
we are not to ftek wdiat government was the fni\^
but what belt provides for the obtaining of jufi.icc,
and prefcrvation of liberty. For v/hatfoevcr the
inftitution be, and how long foever it may have lafled,

•«

* Null am tempus, nulla praslcriptip ocean it vjritati. Tcrtiil. Id
antic]uius quod verius. Ibid.

P 3 Ni's

214 DISCOURSES Chap. lit

'tis void, if it thwarts, or do not provide, for the ends
of its eilablifhment. If fach a law or cuftom there*
fore as is not good in it felf, had in the beginning
prevailed in all parts of the world (which in relation
to abfolute or any kind of monarchy is not true) it
ought to be abolillied ; and if any man fhould fhew
himfelf wifer than others by propofing a law or
government, more beneficial to mankind than any
that had been formerly known, providing better for
juftice and liberty than all others had done, he
would merit the higheft veneration. If any man afk,
who fliall be judge of that rectitude or pravity
which either authorifes or deftroys a law ? I anfwer,
that as this confifts not in formalities and niceties, but
in evident and fubftantial truths, there is no need
of any other tribunal than that of common fenfe,
and the light of nature, to determine the matter:
and he that travels through France, Italy, Turky,
Germany and Switzerland without confulting Bar-
tolus or Baldus, will ealily underfland whether
the countries that are under the kings of France an4
Spain, the Pope and the great Turk, or fuch as ar§
under the care of a well-regulated magiftracy, do
beft enjoy the benefits of juftice and liberty. ' Tis as
eafily determined, whether the Grecians when Athens
and Thebes flourifhed were more free than the Medesj
whether juftice was better adminiftred by Agathocles^
Dionyfius and Phalaris, than by the legal kings and
regular magiftrates of Sparta 3 or whether more care
was taken that juftice and liberty might be preferved
by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero and Vitellius,
than by the fenate and people of Rome whilft the
lav/s WTre more powerful than the commands of
men. The like may be faid of particular laws, as
thofe ofNabuchodonofor and Caligula, for worfliip-
ing their ftatues y our afts of parliament againft

heretics

Sea 25. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 215

heretics and lollards, with the ftatutes and orders
of the inquifition which is called the holy office.
And if that only be a law which is " Sandtio reda,
" jubens honefta, prohibens contraria," the meanefl
iinderftanding, if free from paflion, may certainly
know that fuch as thefe cannot be laws^ by what
authority foever they were enabled, and that the ufe
of them, and others like to them, ought to be
abolifhed for their turpitude and iniquity. Infinite
examples of the like nature might be alledged, as
well concerning divine as human things. And if
there be any laws v/hich are evil, there cannot be an
inconteftable redlitude in all, and if not in all, it
concerns us to examine where it is to be found.
Laws and conftitutions ought to be weighed, and
whilil: all due reverence is paid to fuch as are good,
every nation may not only retain in it felf a power
of changing, or abolifliing all fuch as are not fo,
but ought to exercife that power according to the
beft of their underflanding, and in the place of
what was either at fir ft miftaken or after w^ards cor-
rupted, to conftitute that which is m.oft conducing
to the eftablifhment of juftice and liberty.

But fuch is the condition of mankind, that nothing
can be fo perfectly framed as not to give fome tefti-
mony of hum^an imbecility, and frequently to ftand
in need of reparations and amendments. Many
things are unknown to the wifeft, and the beft men
can never wholly diveft themfelves of paflions
and affeilions. By this means the beO and wifeft
are fometimes led into error, and ftand in need of
fuccefTors like to themfelves, who may find remedies
for the faults they have committed, and nothing can
or ought to be permanent but that which is perfed:.
No natural body was ever fo well temper'd and
organiz'd, as not to be fubjedl to difeafes, wounds
or other accidents, and to need medicines and other

P 4 ^ occafional

2i6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

occafionai helps as well as noiiriiliment and exercife;
and he who under the name of innovation would
deprive nations of the like, does, as much as lies In
hinni, condemn tbem all to perifli by the defedts of
their own foundations. Some men obfervinf^ this *,-
have propofed a neceflily of reaucing eVery ftate once
in an age or two, to the integrity of its iir(t principle :
but they ought to have examined, whether that
principle be good or evil, or fo good that nothing
can be added to it, which none ever was ; and this
beino; fo, thofe who will admit of no change would
render errors perpetital, and depriving mankind of
the benefits of wifdom, induftry, experience, and
the right ule of r^afon, oblige all to continue in
the miiferable barbarity of their anceftors, which
fuits better with the name of a w^olf than tliat of a
man.

Thofe who are of better underftanding, weigh all
things, and often find reafcn to abrogate that Vv^hich
their fathers, according to the meafure of the know-
ledge they had, or the fcate of things among them,
had rightly inftituted, or to reilore that which they
had abroi^ated ; and there can be no f^reater m.ark''6f
a m.oi brutifii ilupidity, than for men to continue
in an evil v^^ay, becaufe their fathers had brought
them into it. But if we ought not too ll ridly to
adhere to our own coniUtutions, thofe of other nati*
ons are Icfs to be regarded by us -, for the, law^s that
may be good for one people are not for all, and that
which agrees wiih thenianhers of one age, is utterly
abhorrent from thofe of another. It wereabfurd to
think of reftorine the laws of Lycuri;^us to the pre-
fcnt inhabitants of Peloponncfus, who are accuftomed
to the moft abjed; ilavcry. It may eafily be imagined,
how the Romans, Sabines and Latins, now under the

* Difcori". di Macchiav. //^. a.

tyranny

Sea. 25. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 217

tyranny of the pope, would reUfh ilich a dilcipline
as flouridied amon9; them after the expulfion of the
Tarquins ; and it had been no lefs prepoftcrous to
give a liberty to the Parthians of governing them-
felves, or for them to affume it, than to impofe an
abfolute monarch upon the German nation. Titus
Livius having obferved this, fays ^, that if a popular
government had been fet up in Rome immediately
upon the building of the city ; and if that fierce
people which was compofed of unruly fliepherds,
lierdfrnen, fugitive flaves, and outlawed perfons, who
-could not fuffer the governments under which they
Vv'crc born, had come to be incited by turbulent
orators, they would have brought all into confufion :
whereas that boifterous humour being gradually
tcm-per'd by difcipline under Rom^ulus, or taught
to vent its furv aeainft foreign enemies, and foften'd
by the peaceable reign of Num^a, a new race grew
up, which being all of one blood, contracted a love
to their country, and became capable of liberty,
which the miadnefs of their laftking, and thelewd-
nefs of his fon, gave them occaiion to reflime. If
this was commendable in them, it mufi: be fo in
o her nations. If the Germans might preferve
their liberty, as well as the Parthians 'fubmitthem-
felves to abfolute monarchy, ^tis as lawful for the
defcendants of thofe Germ_ans to continue in it,
as for the eaftern nations to be Haves. If one nation
may juftly choofe the government that feems belt to
them, and continue or alter it according to the
changes of times and things, the fam.e right m.uft
belono; to others. The 2:reat variety of lav/s that are
or have been in the v/orld, proceeds from this, and
nothing can better fhew the w^ifdom and virtue, or

^ HiiK L. 2.

the

2iS DISCOURSES Chap. III.

the vices and folly of nations, than the ufe they
make of this right : they have been glorious or infa-
mous, powerful or defpicable, happy or miferable,
as they have well or ill executed it.

If it be faid that the law given by God to the
Hebrews, proceeding from his wifdom and good-
riefs, muft needs be perfed: and obligatory to all
nations : I anfwer, that there is a iimple and a rela-
tive perfedlion ; the firft is only in God, the other
in the things he has created : * " he faw that they
^' were good," which can fignify no more than that
they were good in their kind, and fuited to the end
for which he defigned them. For if the perfed:ion
were abfolute, there could be no difference between
an angel and a worm, and nothing could be fubjefl:
to change or death, for that is imperfedlion. This
relative perfeftion is {ccn alfo by his law given to
mankind in the perfons of Adam and Noah. It
was good in the kind, fit for thofe times, but could
never have been enlarged or altered, if the perfedlion
had been fimple ; and no better evidence can be
given to fliew that it was not fo, than that God did
afterwards give one much more full and explicit to
his people. This law alfo was peculiarly apphcable to
that people and feafon, for if it had been otherwife,
the apOilles would have obliged chriftians to the in-
tire obfervation of it, as well as to abflain from ido^
latry, fornication and blood. But if all this be not
fo, then their judicial law, and the form of their
commonwealth muft be received by all ; no human
law can be of any value; we are all brethren, no
man has a prerogative above another ; lands muft be
equally divided amongft all ; inheritances cannot be
alienated for above fifty years ; no man can be raifed
above the reft unlefs he be called by God^ and en-

^ Gen. i.

abled

Sea. 2 5. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 219

abled by his fpirit to conduct the people; when
this man dies, he that has the fame fpirit muft fuc-
ceed, as Jofliua did to Mofes, and his children can
have no title to bis office : when fach a man appears,
a Sanhedrin of feventy men chofen out of the whole
people, are to judge fuch caufes as relate to them-
felves, whilft thofe of greater extent and importance
^re referred to the general aflemblies. Here is no
mention of a king, and confequently, if we muft
take this law for our pattern, we cannot have one :
if the point be driven to the utmoft, and the pre-
cept of Deuteronomy, where God permitted them
to have a king, if they thought fit, when they came
into the promifed land, be underftood to extend to-
all nations, every one of them muft have the fame li-
berty of taking their own time, choofing him in their
own way, dividing the kingdom, having no king,
and fetting up other governors when they pleafe,
as before the election of Saul, and after the return
from the captivity : and even when they have a king,
he muft be fuch an one as is defcribed in the fame
chapter, who no more refembles the fovereign ma-
jefty that our author adores, and agrees as little with
his maxims, as a tribune of the Roman people.

We may therefore conclude, that if we are to
follow the law of Mofes, we muft take it v/ith all
the appendages ; a king can be no more, and no
other wife than lie makes him : for whatever we
read of the kings they had, were extreme deviations
from it. No nation can make any lavv^, and our
lawyers burning their books may betake themfelves
to the ftudy of the pentateuch, in which tho' fome
of them may be well verfed, yet probably the pro-
fit arifing from thence will not be very great.

But if we are not obliged to live in a conformity
to the lav/ of Mofes^ every people may frame laws

for

220 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

for themfelves, and we cannot be denied the right
that is coinmon to all. Oar laws were not fent
from heaven, bat made by our anceftors according
to the^ light they had, and their prefent occafions.
We inherit the fame right from them, and, as we
may without vanity fay that v/e knov/ a little more
than they did, if we find ourfelves prejudic'd by any
law that they made, we may repeal it. The fafety
of the people was their fupreme law, and is fo to
us : neither can we be thought lefs fit to judge what
conduces to that end, than they were. If they in
any age had been perfuaded to put them.felves under
the power, or in our author's phrafe, under the fo- -
vereign majefly of a child, a fool, a mad or defpe-
rately wicked perfon, and had annexed the right
conferred upon him to fuch as fliould fucceed, it
had not been a '' juft and right faiidtion ;" and hav-
ing none of the qualities effentially belonging to a
law, could not have the effed: of a law. It cannpt
be for the good of a people to be governed by one,
who by nature ought to be governed, or by age or
accident is rendred unable to govern himfelf. The
public interefts and the concernments of private men
in their lands, goods, liberties and lives (for the pre-
fervation of which our author fays, that regal pre-
rogative is only confatuted) cannot be preferved by
one who is tranfported by his own paffions or follies,
a flave to his lufls and vices ; or, which is fome-
times worfe, governed by the vileft of men and
women who flatter him in them, and pufh him on
to do fuch things as even they would abhor, if they
were in his place. The turpitude and impious mad-
nefs of fuch an ad: mull: neceffarily make it void,
by overthrowing the ends for which it w^as made,
fince that juftice which was fought cannot be obtain-
ed, nor the evils that wxre feared, prevented 3 and

they

Sea. 2 6. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 221

they for whofe good it was intended muft neceffari-
\y have a right of abolifliing it. This might be fuf-
ficient for us, tho' our anceftors had enflaved them-
felves. But, God be thanked, we are not put to
that trouble : we have no reafon to beHeve we are
dcfcended from fuch fools and beafts, as would will-
insily cafl themfelves and us into fuch an excefs of
mifery and fhame, or that they were fo tame and
cowardly to be fubjecled by force or fear. We know
the value they fet upon their liberties, and the cou-
rage with which they defended them : and we can
have no better example to encoura5;e us, never to
fufFer them to be violated or diminiflied.

SECT. XXVI.

Tho' the king may be entriijled with the power of
choojing judges^ yet that by which they acf is from
the law,

IConfefs that no law can be fo perfed:, *^ to pro-
" vide exadlly for every cafe that may fall out,
*^ fo as to leave nothing to the difcretion of the
*' judges,'* who in fome meafure are to inter-
pret them : but " that lav/s or cuftoms are ever few,
" or that the paucity is the reafon that they cannot
" give fpecial rules, or that judges do refort to thofe
" principles or common law axioms, whereupon
" former judgments in cafes fom.ething alike have
" been given by former judges, who all receive their
" authority from the king in his right to give
" fentence," I utterly deny; and affirm,

1 . That in many places, and particularly in Eng-
land, the laws are fo many, that the number of
them has introduced an uncertainty and confufion
which is both dangerous and troublefome ; and the
infinite variety of adjudged cafes thw^arting and con-
tradicting

222 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

tradiding each other, has rendred thefe difficulties
inextricable. Tacitus imputes a great part of the
miferies fuffer'd by the Romans in his time to this
abufe, and tells us, that " the laws grew to be innu-
" merable in the worft and moft corrupt ftate of
** things"*," and that juflice was overthrown by
them. By the fame means in France, Italy, and
other places, where the civil law is rendred muni-
cipal, judgments are in a manner arbitrary ; and
tho' the intention of our laws be juft and good, they
are fo numerous, and the volumes of our ftatutes
with the interpretations and adjudged cafes fo vaft,
that hardly any thing is fo clear and fixed, but men
of wit and learning may find what will ferve for a
pretence to juftify almoft any judgment they have a
mind to give. Whereas the laws of Mofes, as to
the judicial part, being fhort and few, judgments
were eafy and certain ; and in Switzerland, Sweden,
and fome parts of Denmark, the whole volume that
contains them may be read in few hours, and by that
means no injufi:ice can be done which is not immedi-
ately made evident.

2. Axioms are not rightly grounded upon judged
cafes, but cafes are to be judged according to axioms :
the certain is not proved by the uncertain, but the
uncertain by the certain ; and every thing is to
be efleemed uncertain till it be proved to be certain.
Axioms in law are, as in mathematics, evident to
common fenfe ; and nothing is to be taken for an
axiom, that is not fo. Euclid does not prove his
axioms by his propofitions, but his propofitions,
which are abftrufe, by fuch axioms as are evident to
all. The axioms of our law do not receive their
authority from Coke or Hales, but Coke and Hales

* Et in corruptifllma Republica plurimx Leges.

deferve^

Sea. 26. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 123,

deferve praife for giving judgment according to fuchr
as are undeniably true.

3 . The judges receive their commiffions from the
king, and perhaps it may be faid, that the cuftom of
naming them is grounded upon a right v^ith which
he is entrufted > but their power is from the law, as
that of the king alfo is. For he who has none
originally in himfelf, can give none unlefs it be firft
conferred upon him. I know not how he can well
perform his oath to govern according to law, unlefs
he execute the power with which he is entrufted, in
naming thofe men to be judges, whom in his con-
fcience, and by the advice of his council, he thinks
the beft and ableft to perform that office : but both
he and they are to learn their duty from that law,
by which they are, and which allots to every one his.
proper work. As the law intends that men flhould
be made judges for their integrity and knowledge in
the law, and that it ought not to be imagined that
the king will break his truft by choofing fuch as are
not fo, till the violation be evident, nothing is more
reafonable than to intend that the judges fo qualified
fhould inftrud: the king in matters of law. But
that he who may be a child, over aged, or otherwife
ignorant and incapable, fliould inlSrudl the judges,
is equally abfurd, as for a blind man to be a guide to
thofe who have the beft eyes, and fo abhorrent from
, the meaning of the law, that the judges (as I faid
before) are fworn to do juftice according to the laws,
without any regard to the king's words, letters or
commands : if they are therefore to adl according to
a fet rule, from which they may not depart what
command foever they receive, they do not adt by a
power from him, but by one that is above both.
This is commonly confefs'd ; and tho' fome judges
have been found in feveral ages, who in hopes of

reward

224 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

reward and preferment have made little account of
their oath, yet the fuccefs that many of them liave
had, may reafonably deter others from following
their example ; and if there are not more inilances
in this kind, no better reafon can be given, than
that '^ nations do fi-equently fail, by being too re-
mifs in aif-rtlng their own rights or puniihing of-
fenders, and hardly ever err on the feverer Mi^.

A., Judgments are variouily given in feveral ftates
and kino-doins, but he who would find one where
they lie in the breail of the king^ muft go atieaft as
far as iVlorocco. Nay, the ambaliador whowas lately
here from that place, denied that they were abfo-
lutely in him. However 'tis certain that in Eng-
land, according to the great charter, '■' f Judgments
«' are paiTed by equals :" no maan can be imprifoned,
diffeized of his f-eehold, deprived of life or iinib,
"" X ^^nlefs by the fentence of his peers." The kings
of Judah did '' \ judge and were judged;" and
the iudgm.ents they gave were in and with the San-
hedrin/ In England the kings do not judge, but
are judged : and Bradon lays, '' § That in rcceiv-
*' ing juftice the king is equal to another man ;"
which could not be, if judgments were ^ given by
him, and he w^ere exem.pted from the judgment of
all by that lavv^ which has put all judgm.cnts into
the hands of the people. This power is executed
by them in grand or petty juries, and the judges are
affutants to them in explaining the difficult points
of the law, in which 'tis prefumed they fliould be
learned. The ftrength of every judgment confiils
in the verdidt of thefe juries, which the judges do

* Jure igiti^r pIe<?Jniur ; iiiii enim multorum impunita fcelera tulii-
femus, nunquam ad unum tanta pervenifict licentia. Ciceio.
t j-jdicia fiunt per pares. Mag. Ch-rt.

not

Sea. 26. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 225

not give^ but pronounce or declare : and the fame
law that makes good a verdidl given contrary to the
advice or direction of the judges, expofes them to
the utmoft penalties, if upon their own heads, or a
command from the king, they fhould prefume to
give a fentence, without or contrary to a verdidt 5
and no preteniions to a power of interpreting the
law can exempt them if they break it. The power
alfo with which the judges are entrufted^ is but of
a moderate extent, and to be executed bona fide,
prevarications are capital, as they proved to Trefi-
llan, Empfon, Dudley, and many others. Nay
even in fpecial verdidls, the judges are only ailiftants
to the juries who find it fpecially, and the verdid: is
from them, tho' the judges having heard the point
argued, declare the fenle of the law" thereuoon.
Wherefore if I fliould grant that the king might
perfonally afiifl in judgments, his v^ork could only
be to prevent frauds, and by the advice of the judges
to. fee that the laws be duly executed, or perhaps to
infpeci: their behaviour. If he has more than this,
it muft be by virtue of his politic capacity, in which
he is underftood to be always prefent in principal
courts, where juftice is always done whether he
who wears the crown be young or old, wife or ig-
norant, good or bad, or whether he like or diflike
what is done.

Moreover, as governments are inflltuted for the
obtaining of juftice, and the king is in a great mea-
fure entrufted with the power of executing it, 'tis
probable that the lav/ would have required his pre-
fence in the diftribution, if there had been but one
court ; that at the fame time he could be prefent in
more than one; that it were certain he would te
guilty of no mifcarriages ; that all mifcarriages were
to be punlfhed in him as well as in the judges ; or

Vol. II. Q_ that

226 DISCOURSES Chap. Hi.'

that it were certain he fhould always be a man of
fuch wifdom, induflry, experience and integrity as
to be an affiftance to, and a watch over thofe who
are appointed for the adminiflraticn of juftice. But
there being many courts fitting at the fame time of
equal authority, in feveral places far diftant from
each other ^ impoflible for the king to be prefent in
all ; no manner of affurance that the fame or greater
mifcarriages may not be committed in his prefence
than in his abfence, by himfelf than others -, no op-
portunity of punifhing every delid: in him, with-
out bringing the nation into fuch diforder, as may
be of m.ore prejudice to the public than an injury
done to a private man^ the law which intends
to obviate offences, or to punifh fuch as cannot
be obviated, has direfted, that thofe men fliould
be chofen w^ho are molt knowing in it, impofes aa
oath upon them, not to be diverted from die due
eourfe of juftice by fear or favour, hopes or reward,
particularly by any com.mand from the king ; and
appoints the fevereft puniihments for them if they
prove falfe to God and their country.

If any m.an think that the words cited from Brac-
ton by our author upon the queftion, ^'^ Qujs prima
" & principaliter poflit & debeat judicare, &c. Sci-
" endum eft quod rex & non alius, fi folus ad hasc
** fufficere poiiit ; cum ad hoc per virtutem facra-
'' menti teneatur/' are contrary to what I havefaid,
J delire the context may be confidered, that his opi-
nion m^y be truly underftood, tho' the w^ords taken
limply and nakedly may be enough for my purpofe.
For 'tis ridiculous to infer that the king has a right
of doing any thing, upon a fuppolition that 'tis im-
pofiible for him to do it. He therefore who fays
the king cannot do it, fays it muft be done by others,
or not at alL Eat having already proved that the

king,

ScS:. 26. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 227

king, merely as king, has none of the qualities re-
quired forjudging all or any cafes, and that many
kings have all the defects of age and pcrfon that
render men moft unable and unfit to give any fen-
tence, we may conclude, without contradicting
Braifton, that no king as king, has a power of judg-
ing, becaufe fome of them are utterly unable and
unfit to do it 'j and if any one has fuch a power, it
mufl be confcr'd upon him by thofe who think hira
able and fit to perform that work. When Filmer
finds fuch a man, we muft inquire into the extent of
that power which is given to him 3 but this would
be nothing to his general propofition, for he himfelf
would hardly have inferred, that becaufe a power
of judging in fome cafes was conferred upon one
prince on account of his fitnefs and ability, there-
fore all of them, however unfit and unable, have a
power of deciding all cafes. Bcfides, if he believe
Bradion, this power of judging is not inherent in the
king, but incumbent upon him by virtue of his oath,
which our author endeavours to enervate and annul.
But as that oath is grounded upon the law, and the
law cannot prefume impoflibilities and atfurdi-
ties, it cannot intend, and the oath cannot require,
that a man fhould do that which he is unable and
unfit to do. Many kings are unfit to judge caufes,
the law cannot therefore intend they ihould do it.
The context alfo fhews, that this imagination of the
king's judging all caufes, if he could, is merely chi-
merical : for Braclon fays in the fame chapter,
that " the pov/er of the king is the power of
*' the law;" that is, that he has no power but
by the law. And the law that aims at juftice, can-
not make it to depend upon the uncertain humour
of a child, a woman, or a foolilh man ; for by

- 0^2 that

22^ DISCOURSES Chap. III.

that means it would deftroy it felf. The law cannot
therefore give any fuch power, and the king cannot
have it.

If it be faid that all kings are not fo^ that fome are
of mature age, wife, jufl: and good; or that the quefdon
is not what is good for the fubjeft, but what is
glorious to the king, and that he muft not lofe his
right tho' the people perifli ; I anfwer, firfl:, that
whatfoevcr belongs to kings as kings, belongs to all
kings: this power of judging cannot belong to all
for the reafons above-mentioned : it cannot therefore
belong to any as king, nor without madnefs be granted
to any, till he has given teftimony of fuch wifdom,
experience, diligence and goodnefs, as is required for
fo great a work. It imports not what his anceftors
were ; virtues are not entail'd; and it were lefs impro-
per for the heirs of Hales and Harvey, to pretend
that the clients and patients of their anceftors fhould
depend upon their advice in matters of law andphyfic,
than for the heirs of a great and wife prince to pre-
tend to powers given on account of virtue, if they have
not the fame talents for the performance of the works
required.

Common fenfe 'declares, that o;overnments are
inftituted, and judicatures eredled for the obtaining
of juftice. The kings bench v/as not eftabliflied
that the chief juftice ftiould have a great oflice, but
that the opDreffed ftiould be relieved, and rio;ht done.
The honour and profit he receives, comes in as it
wxre by accident, as the rewards of his fervice, if he
rightly perform his duty : but he may as well pretend
he is there for his own fake, as the king. God did
not fet up Mofes or Joftiua, that they might glory in
havino; ftx hundred thcufand men under their com-
mand, but that they might lead the people into the
land they were to poftefs ; that is^ they were not for

them-

Sea. 26. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 229

themfelves but for the people -, and the gloiy they
acquired was by rightly performing the end of their
inftitution. Even our author is obliged to confefs
this, when he fays, that the king's prerogative is infti-
tuted for the good of thofe that are under it. 'Tis
therefore for them that he enjoys it, and it can no
otherwife fubfift than in concurrence with that end.
He alfo yields that " the fafety of the people is the
'"' fupreme law.'* The right therefore that the king
has mufl be conformable and fubordinate to it. If
any one therefore fetup an intereftin himfelf that is
not fo, he breaks this llipreme law; he doth not live
and reign for his people but for himfelf, and by de-
parting from the end of his inftitution deftroys it :
and if '^ Ariflotle (to whom our author fcems to have
a great deference) deferves credit, fuch a one ceafes
to be a king, and becomes a tyrant ; he v/ho ought to
have been the befl of men is turned into the worft ;'
and he who is recommended to us under the name
of a father, becomes a public enemy to the people.
The queflion therefore is not, v/hat is good for the
king, but what is good for the people, and he can
have no right repugnant to them.

Bradron is not more gentle. '^' The king," fays
he, *' is obliged by his oath, to the utmoft of his
*' power, to preferve the church, and the chrillian
" world in peace; to hinder rapine, and all manner
" of iniquity; to caufe juftice and mercy to be ob-
*' ferved : he has no power but from the law : that
" only is to be taken for law, quod recle fuerit
*^ definitum :" he is therefore to caufe juftice to he
done according to that rule, and not to pervert it for
his own pleafure, profit or glory. He may choofe
judges alfo, not fjch as will be fubfervient to his
will, but ** viros fapientes, timxntes- Deum, in
*Polit.l. I.

0^3 ""' qi-iibus

cc

cc

cc

ti

cc

cc

230 DISCOURSES Chap, III,

qulbus eft Veritas eloqulorum, & qui oderunt
avaritiam *." V/hich proves that kings and their
officers do not poffefs their places for themfelves, but
for the people, and muft: be fuch as are fit and able
to perform the duties they undertake. The mifchie^
vous fury of thofe who afTume a power above tlieir
abilities is well reprefented by the known fable of
Phaeton: they think they defire line things for them^
felves when they feek their own ruin. In con^
formity to this the fameBradon fays, that ^' If any
man who is unfkilfal ailume the feat of jaftice, he
falls as from a precipice, &c. and 'tis the fame
thing as if a fword be put into the hand of a mad
man -f- ;" which cannot but affedl the king as well
as thofe who are chofen by him. If he negledt the
fundlions of his office, '' he does unjuftly, and be-
" comes the vicegerent of the devil ; for he is the
** minifter of him whofe works he does." This is
Bradton's opinion, but defiring to be a more gentle
interpreter of the law, I only wifli, that princes
would confider the end of their inftitution; endeavour
to perform it ; meaiure their own abilities -, content
themfelves with that povvxr which the laws allow,
and abhor thofe wretches who by flattery and lies en-
deavour to work upon their frailefl: paffions, by which
means they draw upon them that hatred of the
people, which frequently brings them to deftrudion.
Tho' Ulpian's uords, *' Princeps legibus non
** tenetur," be granted to have been true in fad:,
with relation to the Roman empire, in the tim.e
when he lived ; yet they can conclude nothing
asiainft us. The libertv of Rome had been over-
thrown long before by the power of the fword, and
|:helaw rcnderd fubfervient to the will of the ufurpers.

* BraiFl. I. ^. c. 10.

-f Si qui' minus fapiens Si indoflus fedem judicanli S: hore^'atem
judicandi fi'oi pn^^UiiTifcrit, exalto corruit, ^c, Sc pcriace erit ac fi
gladiuni poneret 111 ir.r.na furentis. /^ ^y.

They

SecTt. 25. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 231

They were not Engliflimen, but Romans, who
loft the battles of Pharfalia and Philippi : the car-
cafes of their fenators, not ours, were expofed i)
the wolves and vultures: Pompeius, Scipio, Len-?
tulus, Afranius, Petreius, Cato, Caffius and Brutus
were defenders of the Roman, nottheEnglifh liberty ^
and that of their country, not ours, could only be
loft by their defeat Thofe who were deftroy'd
by the profcriptions, left Rome, not England to be
enilaved. If the beft had gained the vidory, it could
have been no advantage to us, and their overthrow-
can be no prejudice. Every nation is to take care of
their own laws ; and whether any one has had the
wifdom, virtue, fortune and power to defend them
or not, concerns only themfelves. The examples of
great and good men adling freely defer ve confidera-
tion, but they only perifh by the ill fuccefs of their
deligns ; and whatfoever is afterwards done by their
fubdued pofterity ought to have no other effed: upon
the reft of the world, than to admoniih them fo to
join in the defence of their liberties, as never to be
brought under thenecefiity of ading by the command
of one, to ther prejudice of themfelves and their
country. If the Roman greatnefs perfaade us to put
an extraordinary value upon what paffed among
them, we ought rather to examine what they did,
faid, or thouglit when they enjoy'dthat liberty which
was the mother and nurfe of their virtue, than what
they fufFer'd, or were forc'd to fay, when they were
fallen under that ilavery which produced all manner
of corruption, and made them the moft bafe and
miferable people of the world.

For what concerns us, the adlons of our anceftors
refemble thofe of the antient rather than the later
Romans : tho' our 2:overnment be not the fame with
theirs in form, yet it is in prirxiple ; and if we are
not degenerated, we ihall rather defire to imitate tne

0^4 Romans

£32 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

Romans In the time of their virtue, glory, power
and felicity, than v/hat they v/ere, in that of their
fiavery, vice, Ihame and mifery. In the beft
times, when '^ the laws were more powerful than
'* the commands of men," fraud was accounted a
crime fo deteftable as not to be imputed to any but
Haves ; and he who had fought a power above the
law under colour of interpreting it, would have
been expofed to fcorn, or greater punifhm.ents, if
any can be greater than the juil: fcorn of the beft
men. And as neither the Romans, nor any people
of the world, have better defended their liberties
than the Englifh nation when any attempt has been
made to opprefs them by force, they ought to be no
lefs careful to preferve them from the more dangerous
efforts of fraud and falfhood.

Our anceftors were certainly in a low condition in

the time of Wiiliam the firfl : many of their beft

men had periihed in the civil wars or v/ith Harold :

their valour was great, but rough, and void of fl^ill :

The Normans by frequent expeditions into France,

Italy and Spain, had added fubtilty to the boifterous

violence of their native climate: William had engaged

his faith, but broke it, and turned the powder with

which he was entrufted to the ruin of thofe that had

trufted him. He deftroy'd many worthy men,

carried others into Normandy, and thought himfelf

mafter of all. He was crafty, bold, and elated with

viflory ; but the refolution of a brave people was

invincible. When their laws and liberties were in

danger, they refolved to die or to defend them, and

made him fee he could no otherwife preferve his

crown and life than by the performance of his oath,

and accomplifliing the ends of his eledion. They

neither took him to be the giver or interpreter of

their laws, and w^ould notfufterhim tojyiolate thofe ;

of

ScS:. 26. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 233

of their anceftors. In this way they always conti-
nued ; and tho' perhaps they might want fkill to
fall upon the fureft and eafieil means of reftraining
the lufls of princes, yet they maintained their rights
fo well, that the wifeft princes feldom invaded them ;
and the fuccefs of thofe who were fo foolifh to at-
tempt it was fuch, as may juftly deter others from
following their unprofperous examples. We have
had no king fince William the firft more hardy than
Henry the eighth, and yet he fo intirely acknow-
ledged the power of making, changing and repeahng
laws to be in parliament, as never to attempt any
extraordinary thing otherwife than by their authority.
It was not he, but the parliament that diifolved
the abbies : he did not take their lands to himfelf,
but receiv'd what the parliament thought fit to give
him : he did not rejecfl the fupremacy of the Pope,
nor affume any other power in fpiritual matters,
than the parliament conferred upon him. The intri-
cacies of his marriages, and the legitimation of his
children was fettled by the fame power: at leaft one
of his daughters could not inherit the crown upon
any other title ; they who gave him a power to dif-
pofe of the crown by will might have given it to his
groom ', and he was too haughty to afk it from
them, if he had it in himfelf, which he muft
have had, if the laws and judicatures had been in
his hand.

This is farther evidenced by what pafled in the
Tower between Sir Thomas Moor and Rich the
king's folicitor, who afking, if it would not be
treafon to oppofe Richard Rich, if the parliament
fliould make him king. Moor faid that was Cafus
levis *; for the parliament could make and depofe
kings as they thought fit ; and then (as more con-

* Hedert^ Hen. Mil.

ducing

134 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

ducing to his own cafe) alked Rich if the parHa-
ment fliould enadl '* that God fhould not be God '*

9

whether fuch as did not fubmit fhould be elleemed
traitors ? 'Tis evident that a man of the acutenefs
and learning of Sir Tho. Moor would not have made
uk of fuch an argument to avoid the neceflity of
obeying what the parliament had ordained, by fhew-
ing his cafe to be of a nature far above the power
of man, unlefs it had been confefled by all men
that the parliament could do whatfoever lay within
the reach of human power. This may be enough
to prove that the king cannot have a power over the
law ; and if he has it not, the power of interpret-
ing laws is abfurdly attributed to him, lince it is
founded upon a fuppofition that he can make them,
which is falfe.

SECT. XXVIL

Magna Charta was not the original^ but a declcra"
tion of the EngliJI: liberties, 7be kin^s power is
not reftrained^ but created by that and other lai
and the nation that made the?n can only correct the
defcdls of them.

Agree with our author that " Magna Charta
" was not mnde to reflrain the abfolute authori-
ty ;" for no fuch thing was in being or pretended
(the folly of fuch vifions feeming to have been re-
ferved to compleat the misfortunes and ignominy of
our age ;) but it was to affert the native and original
liberties of our nation by the confeflion of the king
then being, that neither he nor his fucceffors fliould
any way incroach upon them : and it cannot be
faid the power of kings is diminiflied by that or any
other law • for as they are kings only by law, the
law may confer power upon one in particular, or
A upon

uo ;

Sefl. 27. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 235

upon him and his fucceffors, but can take nothing
from them, becaufe they have nothing except what
is given to them. But as that which the law gives,
is given by thofe who make the law, they only are
capable of judging, whether he to whom they gave
it, do well or ill employ that power, and confequent-
ly are only fit to correct the defeats that may be
found in it. Therefore tho' I fhould confefs that
faults may be found in many ftatutes, and that the
whole body of them is greatly defedive, it will not
follow that the compendious way of referring all to
the will of the king fliould be taken. But what de-
feds foever may be in our law, the difeafe is not fo
great to require extreme remedies, and we may hope
for a cheaper cure. Our law may poffibly have
given away too much from the people, and provid-
ed only infufficient defences of our liberties againft
the incroachments of bad princes ; but none who
are not in judgment and honefty like to our author,
can propofe for a remedy to the evils that pro-
ceed from the error of giving too much, the refig-
nation of all the reft to them. Whatever he fays,
^tis evident that he knows this to be true, when,
tho' he denies that the power of kings can be re-
ftrained by afts of parliament, he endeavours to
take advantage of fuch claufes as were either fraudu-
lently inferred by the king's officers, who till the
days of Henry the fifth for the moft part had the
penning of the public a6ls, or through negligence
did not fully explain the intentions of the legillators;
v^hich would be to no purpofe if all were put into
the hands of the king by a general law from God,
that no human power could diminifh or enlarge j
and as his laft iliift would obliquely put all into the
power of the king by giving him a right of inter-
preting the lav/j and judging fuch cafes as are not

clearly

236 DISCOURSES Chap. HI:

clearly decided 5 which would be equally imperti-
nent, if he had openly and plainly a right of de-
termining in all things according to his will.

But what defeds foever may be in any ftatutes
no great inconveniencies could probably enfue, if
that for annual parliaments was obferved, as of right
it ought to be. Nothing is more unlikely, than that
a great aflembly of eminent and chofen men fliould
make a law evidently deflrudive to their own de-
ligns; and no mifchief that might emerge upon the
difcovery of a miftake, could be fo extreme that
the cure might not be deferred till the meeting of
the parliament, or at leaft forty days (in which time
the king may call one) if that which the law has
fixed feem to be too long. If he fail of this, he
performs not his truft ; and he that would reward
fuch a breach of it with 'a vaft and uncontrolable
power, may be juftly thought equal in madnefs to
our author, who by forbidding us to examine the
titles of kings, and enjoining an intire veneration of
the power, by w^hat means foever obtained, encou-
rages the worft of men to murder the beft of princes,
with an affurance that if they profper they Ihall en-
joy all the honours and advantages that this world
can afford.

Princes are not m^uch more beholden to him for
the haughty language he puts into their mouths, it
having been obferved that the worft are always moft
ready to ufe it ; and their extravagances having been
often chaftifed by law,' fufficiently proves, that
their power is not derived from a higher original than
the law of their own countries.

If it were true, that the anfwer fometimes given
by kings to bills prefented for their aflent, did, as
our author fays, amount to a denial, it could only
ihev/ that they have a negative voice upon that which

is

Sea. 27. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 237

is agreed by the parilarnent, and is far from a power
of adting by themfelves, being only a check upon
the other parts of the government. But indeed it is
no more than an elufion ; and he that does by art
obliquely elude, confeiTes he has not a right abfo-
lutely to refufe. 'Tis natural to kings, efpecially to
the worft, to fcrew up their authority to the height ;
and nothing can more evidently prove the defed; of
it, than the neceflity of having recourfe to fuch pi-
tiful evaiions, when they are unwilling to do that
which is required. But if I fhould grant that the
words import a denial, and that (notwithftanding
thofe of the coronation oath, " Quas vulgus elege-
rit") they might deny; no more could be inferred
from thence, than that they are entrufled with a
power equal in that point, to that of either houfe,
and cannot be fupreme in our author's fenfe, unlefs
there were in the fam^e ftate at the fame time three
diftinfl: fupreme and abfolute powers, which is
abfurd.

His cafes relating to the proceedings of the flar-
chamber and council-table, do only prove that fome
kings have encroached upon the rights of the nation,
and been fuffered till their exceifes growing to be
extreme, they turned to the ruin of the minifters
that advifed them, and fometimes of the kings
themfelves. But the jurifdidion of the council hav-
ing been regulated by the ftatute of the 17 Car. I.
and the ftar-chamber more lately aboliilied, they
are nothing to our difpute.

Such as our author ufually impute to treafon and
rebellion the changes that upon iuch occafions have
enfued; but all impartial men do not only juftify them,
but acknowledge that all the crovi^ns of Europe are at
this day enjoyed by no other title than fuch acfls fo-
temnly performed by the refpeftive nations, who

4 either

2^8 DISCOURSES Chap. In.

either difliking the perfon that pretended to the
crown (tho' next in blood) or the government of
the prefent poffeffor, have thought fit to prefer an-
other perfon or family. They alfo fay, that as no
government can be fo perfed: but fome defeft may
be originally in it, or afterwards introduced, none
can fubfift unlefs they be from time to time reduc'd
to their firft integrity, by fuch an exertion of the
power of thofe for \^/hofe fake they were inftituted,
as may plainly ihew them to be fubjefl: to no power
under heaven, but may do whatever appears to be
for their own good. And as the fafety of all na-
tions confifts in rightly placing and meafuring this
power, fuch have been found always to profper who
have given it to thofe from whom ufurpations were
leaft to be feared, who have been leaft fubjedt to be
awed, cheated or corrupted; and who having the
greateft intereft in the nation, were moil concerned
to preferve its power, liberty and welfare. This is
the greateft truft that can be repofed in men. This
power was by the Spartans given to the Ephori and
the fenate of twenty eight ; in Venice to that which
they call Concilio de Pregadi ; in Germany, Spain,
France, Swedeland, Denmark, Poland, Hungary,
Bohemia, Scotland, England, and generally all the
nations that live under the Gothic polity, it has
been in their general affemblies, under the name of
diets, cortez, parliaments, fenates, and the like.
But in what hands foever it is, the power of mak-
ing, abrogating, changing, correcting and interpret-
ing laws, has been in the fame ; kings have been
rejeded or depofed ; the fucceffion of the crown
fettled, regulated, or changed ; and I defy any man
to fhew me one king amongft all the nations above-
mentioned, that has any right to the crown he wears,

unlefs fuch aits are eood.

If

Se6l. 28. CONCERNING GOVEJ^NMENT. 239

If this power be not well placed, or rightly pro-
portioned to that which is given to other magiftrates,
the ftate muft neceflarily fall into great diforders, or
the moft violent and dangerous means muft be fre-
quently ufed to preferve their liberty. Sparta and
Venice have rarely been put to that trouble, becaufe
the fenates were fo much above the kings and dukes
in power, that they could without difficulty bring
them to reafon. The Gothic kings in Spain never
ventured to difpute with the nobility ; and Witza and
Rodrigo expofed the kingdom as a prey to the Moors,
rather by v/eakning it through the negled: of military
difcipline, joined to their own ignorance and cow-
ardice, and by evil example bringing the youth to
refemble them in Icwdnefs and bafenefs, than by
eftablilliing in tliemfelves a power above the law.
But in England our anceftors, who feem to have had
fome fuch thing in their eye, as balancing the pow-
ers, by a fatal miftake placed ufually fo much in
the hands of the king, that whenfoever he happened
to be bad, his extravagances could not be reprefs'd
without great danger. And as this has in feveral
ages coft the nation a vaft proportion of generous
blood, fo 'tis the caufe of our prefent difficulties,
and threatens us with more, but can never de-
prive us of the rights we inherit from our fathers,

SECT. XXVIII.

7he EngliJJ:) 7tation has airways been governed hj it Jeff

or its reprefentatives.

HAVING proved that the people of England
have never acknowledged any other human
law than their own, and that our parliaments having
the power of making and abrogating laws, they
only can interpret them and decide hard cafes, it

plainly

240 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

plainly appears there can be no truth in our author's
aflertion, that " the king is the author, corredlor
*' and moderator of both ftatute and common law:"
and nothing can be more frivolous than what he adds,
that *' neither of them can be a diminution of that
" natural power which kings have over their people
" as fathers j" in as much as the differences between
paternal and monarchical power (as he aiTerts it) are
vaft and irreconcileable in principle and pradlice, as
I have proved at large in the former parts of this

work. ^

But left we (hould be too proud of the honour he-;
is pleafed to do to our parliaments by making ufe of
their authority, he fays, " We are firft to remember
*' that till the conqueft" (which name for the glory
of our nation he gives to the coming in of the Nor--
mans) " there could be no parliament affembled of/
'' the general ftates, becaufe we cannot learn that .
" until thofe days it was intirely united in one."
Secondly he doubts, " Whether the parliament in
" the time of the Saxons were compofed of the
'' nobility and clergy, or whether the commons -
" v/ere alfo called 3" but concludes, " there could,
^' be no knights of any iliires, becaufe there were
« no fliires." Thirdly, " that Henry the firft
«' caufed the commons firft to affemble knights and '
*' burgeffes of their own choofing;'* and w^ould make
this to be an ad: of grace and favour from that king :
but adds, that " it had been more for the honour
" of parliaments, if a king whofe title to the
*' crown had been better, had been the author of the
*' form of it."

In anfwer to the firft, I do not think my felf
obliged to inlift upon the nam.e or form of the parlia-
ment 5 for the authority of a magiftracy proceeds

not

Secfl. 2g. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 241

not from the number of years that it has continued 5
but the rectitude of the inftitution, and the authority
of thofe that inftituted it. The power of Saul,
David and Jeroboam, was the fame with that which
belonged to the laft kings of Ifrael and Judah.
The authority of the Roman confuls, didlators, pre-
tors and tribunes, was the fame as foon as it was
eftabliflied ; was as legal and juft as that of the kino;s
of Denmark, which is faid to have continued above
three thoufand years. For as time can make nothing
lawful or juft, that is not fo of it felf (tho' men are
unwilling to change that which has pleafed their
anceftors, unlefs they difcover great inconveniences
in it) that which a people docs rightly eilablifh for
their own good, is of as much force the firft: day,
as continuance can ever give to it : and therefore in
matters of the greateft: importance, wife and good
men do not fo much inquire what has been, as what
is good and ought to be^ for that which of it felf is
evil, by continuance is made worfe, and upon the
firft opportunity is juftly to be abolifhed. But if
that liberty in w^hich God created man, can receive
any ftrength from continuance, and the rights of
Engl iih men can be render'd more unqueilionable by
prefcription, I fay that the nations whofe rights we
inherit, have ever enjoy'd the liberties we c!aim> and
always exercifed them in governing themfelves
popularly, or by fuch reprefentatives as have been
inftituted by themfelves, from the time they were firft
knov/n in the world.

The Britons and Saxons lay fo lone hid in the
obfcurity that accompanies barbarifm, that 'tis in
vain to leek what was done by either in any v/riters
more antient than Csfar and Tacitus. The firft
dcfcril^es the Britons to have been a fierce people
zealous for liberty, and fo obftinately valiant in the

Vol. IL R defence

242 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

defence of it, that tho' they wanted fklll, and were
overpowered by the Romans, their country could na
otherwife be fubdued than by the flaughter of all the
inhabitants that were able to bear arms. He calls
them a free people, in as much as they were not like
the Gauls, governed by laws made by the great
men, but by the people. In his time they chofe
Caflivellaunus, and afterwards Caradatus, Arviragus,
Galoacus, and others to command them in their
wars, but they retain'd the government in them-
felves. That no force might be put upon them,
they met arm'd in their general alTemblies 5 and the'
the fmaller matters were left to the determination of
the chief men chofen by themfelves for that purpofe,
they referved the moft important (amongft which
the choofing of thofe men was one) to themfelves^
When the Romans had brought them low^ ^ they
fet up certain kings to govern fuch as were within,
their territories : but thofe who defended themfelves
by the natural ftrength of their lituation, or retired
into the north, or the iilands, were ftill governed
by their own cufton^s, and were never acquainted
with domeftlc or foreign flavery. The Saxons,
from whom we chiefly derive our original and man-
ners^ were no lefs lovers of liberty,, and better undef-
ftood the ways of defending it. They were certain-
ly the mofl powerful and valiant people of Germany j ''
and what the Germans performed under Arioviftus, i[
Arminius and Maroboduus, IheWs both their force
and their temper. If ever fear entered into the heart ''
of C^fai*, it fcems to have been when he was to deal
with. Arioviftus. The advantages that the brave
Germanicus obtained againft Arminius, were at
leafl thought equal to the greateft viftories that had
been gain'd by any Pvoman captain ; becaufe thefe

* Liter inHrumentarerv-itutis regeshabu ere, CTasU. I(

nationf

■f:

sect. 28. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 243

nations fought not for riches, or any inftruments of
luxury and pleafure, which they defpifed, but for
liberty. This was the principle in which they hved,
as appears by their words and adions ; fo that Ar-
minius when his brother Flavius, who ferved the
Romans, boafted of the increafe of his pay, and
the marks of honour he had received, in fcorn call-
ed them *' ^ rewards of the vileft fervitude 3" but
when he himfclf endeavoured to ufurp a power over
the liberty of his country which he had fo bravely
defended, he was killed by thofe he would have op-
prefs'd. Tacitus farther defcrlbing the nature of the
Germans, lliews that the Romans had run greater
hazards from them than from the Samnites, Car-
thaginians and Parthians, and attributes their brave-
ry to the -f* liberty they enjoyed 3 for they are, fays
he, neither t exhaufled by tributes, nor vexed by
publicans: and left this liberty ihould be violated,
*' II the chief men confult about things of leffer
" moment -, but the moft important matters are de-
" termined by all." Whoever w^ould know the
opinion of that wife author concerning the German
liberty, may read his excellent treatife concerning
their manners and cuftoms ; but I prefume this may
be enough to prove that they lived free under fuch
magiftrates as they chofe, regulated by fuch laws as
they made, and retained the principal powers of the
government in their general or particular councils.
Their kings and princes had no other power than
was conferred upon them by thefe § affemblics, who

R 2 havin

* Vilis fervitii przemia. 7^;r.'V.

f Quippe gravior eil Arfacio regna Germanorum libertas.
X Exempti oneribus Sc collationibus, &c tantum in uium prsellorum
iepofiti, vc-lut tela & arma bcllis refcrvantur.

II De minoribus principes confukanr, de majoribus omnes.

C. Tacit, de mcr. Germ.
§ Ut tuibs placuit coiifidunt armati, filentium per raceidoces, qui-

DUS

244 DISCOURSES Chap. ill.

having all in themfelves, could receive nothing from
them, who had nothing to give.

'Tis as eafily proved that the Saxons or Angli^
from whom we defcend, were eminent among thofe,
whofe power, virtue, and love to liberty the above-
mentioned hiftorian fo highly extols, in as much as
beiides what he fays in general of the Saxons, he
names the Angli; defcribes their habitation near Elbe^
and their religious worfhip of the Goddefs Erthum,
or the earth, celebrated in an ifland lying in the
mouth of that river, thought to be Heyligland 5 in
refemblance of which a fmall one lying over againft
Berwick, is called Holy Ifland. If they were free in
their own country, they muft be fo when they came
hither. The manner of their coming fhews they
were more likely to impofe, than fubmitto flavery;
and if they had not the name of Parliament, it was
becaufe they did not fpeak French ; or, not being
yet joined with the Normans, they had not thought
fit to put their affairs into that method ; but having
the root of power and liberty in themfelves, they
could not but have a right of eflablifliing the one in
fuch a form as beft pleafed them, for the preferva-
tion of the other.

This being, as I fuppofe, undeniable, it imports
not w^hether the affemblies in which the fupreme
power of each nation did refide, were frequent or
rare ; compofed of many or few perfons, fitting
altogether in one place, or in more; what name they
had ; or whether every free man did meet and vote
in his own perfon, or a few were delegated by many.
For they who have a right inherent in themfelves,

bus turn coercendi jus eil, imperatur. Mox rex vel piinceps prout
aetas Cuique, prout nobilitas, prout decus bellonim, prout facundia eft,
audiuntur, auroriiate fiiadendi, ir.agis quam jubcndi poteilate. Si dif-
piicuit fententia, fremita alpernantur ; il placuit, framcas concutiunt,
^v:c. Ibid.

may

Sea. 2S. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 245

may refign it to others ; and they who can give ^
power to others, may exercife it themfelves, unlefs
they recede from it by their own ad: ; for it is only
matter of convenience, of which they alone can be
the judges, becaufe 'tis for themfelves only that they
• judge. If this were not fo, it would be very pre-
judicial to kings : for *tis certain that Caffivellaunus,
Caradlatus, Arviragus, Galgacus, Hengift, Horfa,
and others amongft the Britons and Saxons, what
name foever may be abufively given to them, were
only temporary magiftrates chofen upon occafion of
prefent wars 5 but we know of no time in which
the Britons had not their great council to determine
their moft important affairs : and the Saxons in their
own country had their councils, where all were pre-
fent, and in which Tacitus affures us they difpatch-
ed their o-reateft buiinefs, Thefe were the fam.e with
the Micklegemots which they afterwards held here,
and might have been called by the fame name, if
Tacitus had fpoken Dutch.

If a people therefore have not a power to create
at any time a magiilracy which they had not before,
none could be created at all, for no magiftracy is
eternal : and if for the validity of the conftitution
it be neceffary, that the beginning muft be unknown,
or that no other could have been before it, the mo-
narchy amongft: us cannot be eilabliflied upon any
right ; for tho' our ancefcors had their councils and
magiftrates, as well here as in Germany, they h d
no monarchs. This appears plainly by the teilimo-
ny of C23far and Tacitus ; and our later hiftorits
fhov/, that as foon as the Saxons came into this coun-
try, they had their iViicklegemots, w^hicli were ge-
neral affemblies of the noble and freemen, who had
in themfelves the power of the nation : and tho'
when they increafed in numbers, they eredred (even.

R 3 kingdom Sj

!

240 DISCOURSES Chap. III. 1

kingdoms, vet everv one retained tlie fame ufao^e
within itfelf. Theie aiTemblies were evidently the
fame in power with our parliaments ^ and tho' they
differed in name or form, it matters not, for they
who could ad: in the one. could not but have a power Jj
of inftituting the other; that is, the fame people'"
that could meet together in their own perfons, and
according to their own pleaiure order all m^atters re- I
lating to themfelves, whiUt three or four counties
only were under one government, and their num-
bers were not fo great, or their habitation fo far dif-
tant, that they might not meet all together witJioiiti
inconvenience, with the fame right might depute
others to reprefent them, when being joined in one,
no place was capable of receiving fo great a multi-
tude, and that the frontiers would have been expof-
ed to the danger of foreign invafions, if any fuch
thing had been pracftifed.

But if the authority of parliaments, for miany
ages reprefenting the whole nation, were lefs to be
valued (as our author infinuates) becaufe they could
not reprefent the whole, when it v/as not joined in
one body, that of kings muft com.e to nothing;
for there could be no one king over all, when the
nation was divided into feven diftind: governments :
and 'tis moft abfurd to think that the nation, which
had feven great councils, or Micklegemots, at the
fame time they had feven kingdoms, could not as
well unite the feven councils as the feven kingdoms
into one. 'Tis to as little purpofe to fay, that the
nation did not unite itfelf, but the feveral parcels came
to be inherited bv one ; for that one could inherit no
iriorefromthcotherthan v/hatthey had; and the feven
being only magiftrates ict up by the Micklegemots
&c. the one mud be io alfo. And 'tis neither rea-
ionable to iiDa^iiic^ nor pcilible to prove^ that a

fierce

;

Sea.. 2B. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 24;

fierce nation, jealous of liberty, and who had ob-

ftinately defended it in Germany againft all invaders,

Ihoiild conquer this country to enflave themfelves,

snd purchafe nothing by their valour but that fervi-

tude which they abhorred ; or be lefs free when

they were united into one ftate, than they had been

wlien they were divided into feven ; and leaft of all,

that one man could firil fubdue his own people, and

then all the reft, when by endeavouring to fubdue

his own, he had broken the truft repofed in him,

and loft the right conferred upon him, and without

them had not power to fubdue any. But as it is

my fate almoft ever to dificnt from our author, I

affirm, that the variety of government, which is

obferved to have been amongft the Saxons, v/ho in

fome ages were divided^ in others united .; fome-

.times under captains, in other times under kings ;

fometimes meeting perfonally in the Micklegemots,

fometimes by their delegates in the Wittenagemots,

•does evidently teftify, that they ordered all things

according to their own pleafure ; which being the

utmoft ad: of libertyj it remained inviolable under

all thofe changes, as we have already proved by the

confeffion of OfFa, Ina, Alfred, Canutus, Edward^

and other particular, as v/ell as univerfal kings : and

we mav be fure thofe of the Norman race can have

no more power, fince they came in by the fame

way, and fwore to govern by the fame laws.

2. I am no way concerned in our author's doubt,
*' Whether parliaments did in thofe days confift of
*^ nobility and clergy ; or whether the commons
*' were alfo called." For if it v/ere true, as he af-
ferts, that according to the eternal law of God and
nature, there can be no government in the world
but that of an abfolute monarch, whofe fovereign
majefty can be diminiftied by no law or cuftom,

R 4 . tlierc

24S DISCOURSES Chap. III.

there could be no parliaments, or other magiftracies,
that did not derive their power and being from his,|
will. But having proved that the Saxons had their^
general councils and affemblies when they had no
kings; that by them kings were made, and the
greateil affairs determined, whether they had kings
or not ; it can be of no importance, whether in one
cr more ages the commons had a part in the govern-
ment, or not. For the fame power that inftituted
a parliament without them, might, when they
thought fit, receive them into it : or rather, if
they who had the government in their hands, did,
for reafons known to themfelves, recede from
the exercife of it^ they might refume it when they
pleafed.

Neverthelefs it may be worth our pains to enquire,
what our author means by nobiHty. If fuch, as at
this day by means of patents obtained for money, or
by favour, without any regard to merit in the per-
fons or their anceftors, are called dukes, marquiffes,
&c. I give him leave to impute as late and bafe an
original to them as he pleafes, without fearing that
the rights of our nation can thereby be im^paired ;
and am content, that if the king do not think fit to
fupport the dignity of his own creatures, they may
fail to the ground. But if by noblemen we are to
underfland fuch as have been ennobled by the virtues
of their anceftors, manifefted in fervices done to
their country, I fay, that all nations, amongft
whom virtue lias been efteemed, have had a great
regard to them and their pofterity : and tho' kings,
when they were made, have been intrufted by the
Saxons, and other nations, with a power of en-
nobling thofe who by fervices rendered to their coun-
try might deferve that honour ^ yet the boay of the

nobility

Sea. 28. CONCERNING GOVE>RNMENT. 249

nobility was more antient than fuch ; for it had
been equally impoffible to take * kings (according to
Tacitus) out of the nobility if there had been no
nobility, as to take captains for their virtue if there
had been no virtue ; and princes could not, v^ith-
out breach of that truft, confer honours upon thofe
that did not deferve them ; which is fo true, that
this pradice was objeded as the greateft crime againft
-f Vortigern, the laft and the worfl: of the Britifli
kings : and tho' he might pretend (according to fuch
cavils as are ufual in our time) that the judgment of
-thofe matters was referred to him ; yet the world
judged of his crimes, and vv^hen he had rendered
himfelf odious to God and men by them, he perifli-
ed in them, and brought deilrudion upon his
country that had fuffer'd them too long.

As among the Turks, and moft of the eaflern
tyrannies, there is no nobility, and no man has any
confiderable advantage above the common people,
unlefs by the immediate favour of the prince -, fo in
all the legal kingdoms of the north, the flrength of
the government has always been placed in the nobi-
lity; and no better defence has been found againft the
scncroachments of ill kings, than by fetting up an
order of men, who by holding large territories, and
having great numbers of tenants and dependants,
might be able to redrain the exorbitances, that either
the kings or the commons might run into. For
this end Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Denmark,
Sweden, Scotland and England, were almoft wholly
divided into lcrd(l:iips under feveral names, by which
every particular polTellor owed allegiance that is,

* KegC; fx nobilitste. ciuccb ex virtute fumere. 2/... Mor uV/w. r -,
-j- Subiiniaio eo ccspk Jaes orrnium icclcrum crefcrre : (o^viebat

fcurrllis nequitia, odium veritatis, ^cc. ut vas omnium fcclerum iolas
;-viderctur Vcrtigernus; & quod maxima Regis honelbd contrarium eft,

re. biles depjimens, & m.oribus & fanguine ignobiles extolk-iis, Deo cc

htnii.iibiis efiicitur odiofus. Mat. I'l'efim. Ax\- 446.

fuch

250 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

fuch an obedience as the law requires) to the king,
and he reciprocally fwore to perform that which the
fame law exacted from him.

When thefe nations were converted to the chrifti-
an religion, they had a great veneration for the
clergy ; and not doubting that the men whom they
efteemed holy, w^ould be juft, thought their liber-
ties could not be better fecured, than by joining thofe
who had the diredion of their confciences, to the
noblemen who had the command of their forces.
This fucceeded fo well (in relation to the defence of
the publick rights) that in all the foremen tioned
ftates, the bilhops, abbots, &c. were no lefs zea-
lous or bold in defending the publick liberty, than
the bell and greateft of the lords : and if it were
true, that things being thus eftabiiflied, tlie com-
mons did neither perfonally, nor by their reprefen-
tativeSj enter into the general alTemblies, it could be
of no advantage to kings ; for fuch a power as is
above-mentioned, is equally inconfiftent with the
abfolute fovereignty of kings, if placed in the nobi-
lity and clergy, as if the commons had a part. If
the king has all, no other man, nor number of men
can have any. If the nobility and clergy have the
power, the commons may have their fliare alfo.
But I affirm, that thofe whom we now call com-
mons, have always had a part in the government,
and their place in the councils that managed it ; for
if there was a diftinftion, it muft have been by pa-
tent, birth, or tenure.

As for patents, we know they began long after
the coming of the Normans, and thofe that now
have them cannot pretend to any advantage on ac-
count of birth or tenure, beyond many of thofe
who liave them not. Nay, befides the feveral branch-
es of the families that now enjoy the moft antient

honours.

Sea 28. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 251

honours, which confequently are as noble as they,,
and fome of them of the elder houfes, we know
many that are now called commoners, who in anti-
quity and eminency are no way inferior to the chief
of the titular nobility : and nothing can be more ab-
furd, than to give a prerogative of birth to Cr-v-n,
T-ft-n, H-de, B-nn-t, Ofb-rn, and others, before
the Cliftons, Hampdens, Courtneys, Pelhams, St.
Johns, Baintons, Wilbrahams, Hungerfords, and
many others. And if the tenures of their eftates be
confider'd, they have the fame, and as antient as
any of thofe who go under the nam,es of duke, or
marquis. I forbear to mention the fordid ways of
attaining to titles in our days ; but whoever will
take the pains to examine them, fliall find that thev
rather defile than ennoble the poflTeflbrs. And
whereas men are truly ennobled only by virtue, and
refpedt is due to fuch as are defcended from thofe
who have bravely ferv'd their country, becaufe it is
prefumed (till they fliew the contrary) that they
will refemble their anceflors, thefe modern courti-
ers, by their names and titles, frequently oblige us
to call to mind fuch things as are not to be mentioned
without bluihing. Whatever the antient noblem^en
of England were, v/e are fure they were not fuch as
thefe. And tho' it (hould be confefs'd that no others
than dukes, marquiffes, earls, vifcounts, and barons,
had their places in the councils mentioned by Caefar
and Tacitus, or in the great alTemblies of the Saxons,
it could be of no advantage to fuch as now are call-
ed by thofe names. They were the titles of offices
conferred upon thofe, who did and could beft con-
duct the people in time of war, 'give counfel to the
king, adminifler juftice, and perform other pubiick
duties ; but were never made hereditary except by
abufe 3 much lefs were they fold for money, or

given

252 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

given as recompences of the vileft ferviccs. If the
antient order be totally inverted, and the ends of its
inftitution perverted, they who from thence pretend
to be diftinguifhed from other men, muft build
their claim upon fomething very different from an-
tiquity.

This being fufficient (if I miftake not) to make
it appear, that the antient councils of our nation did
not confift of fuch as v^e now call noblemen, it
may be worth our pains to examine, of what fort of
mQn they did confift : and tho' I cannot much rely
upon the credit of Camden, which he has forfeited
by a great number of untruths, I will begin with
him, becaufe he is cited by our author. If we be-
lieve him, * " That which the Saxons called Witten-
''-agemot, we may juftly name parliament, which
*' has the fupreme and moft facred authority of ma-
" king, abrogating and interpreting laws, and gene-
" rally of all things relating to thefafety of the com-
" monwealth." This Wittenagemot was, according
to William of Malmfbury, -f ''The general meeting
" of thefenate and people ;" and Sir Harry Spelman
calls it, j " The general council of the clergy and
*' people." In the affem.bly at Calcuth it was decreed
by the archbiihops, bifliops, abbots, dukes, fena-
tors, and the people of the land (populo tcnx) that
the § kings fliould be elected by the priefts and el-
ders of the people." By thefe Olfa, Ina, and others,
wti'Q made kings ; and Alfred in his w^ill acknow-

* Quod Saxones olim V/ittenagemot, parllamcntum Sc panangli-
cum redte dici poHit, fuiTiiTiamque & facrofan^am habet autoritatem
in legibus fcrendis, antiqcandis, confcrmandis, irterpretandis, Sc in
omnibus quai ad reipublic^e falutem rpedlant. Brif. fol. 63.

-|- Generalisfenatus & populi conventus. McJrjif.

\ Commune concilium tarn cleri quam populi. Spehn.

§ Ut reges a facerdotibus ^: fenioiibus populi eligantur.

ledgcd

(C

Std:. 28. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 253

ledged his || crown from them. Edgar was eledled
by all the people, and not long after depofed by them,
and again reflored in a 4- Rcneral affembly. Thefe
things being fometimes faill to be done by the affent
of the barons of the kingHom, Camden fays, that
under the name of the "* Baronage, all the orders
of the kingdom are in a manner comprehended ;*'
and it cannot be otherwife under! iood, if we con-
fider that thofe called noblemen, or the nobihty of
England, are often by the hiftorians faid to be (in-
finita multitudo) an infinite multitude.

If any man afk hov/ the nobility came to be fo
numerous ^ I anfwer, that the northern nations,
who were perpetually in arms, put a high efteem
upon military valour ; fought by conqueft to ac-
quire better countries than their own ; valu'd them-
felves according to the numbers of men they could
bring into the field ; and to difiinguifh them from
villains, called thofe noblemen, who nobly defended
and enlarged their dominions by war ; and for a
reward of their fervices, in tiie divifion of lands gained
by conqueft, they di'tributed to them freeholds,
under the oblieation of continuino; the fame fervice
to their country. This appears by the name of knights
fervice, a knight being no more than a foldier, and
a knight's fee no more than v/as fufficient to main-
tain one. 'Tis plain, that knighthood was always
efleemed nobility ; fo that no man, of what quality
foever, thoup-ht a knieht inferior to him, cind thofe
of the higheil birth could not adt as noblemen till
they were knighted. Among the Goths in Spain,
the cutting oft the hair (which being long was the

|] C^iam Deus & principes cum fenioribus populi luilericojditcr Si
benigne dtderunt.

4- Coram omni muldtudine populi Anglorum.

* Nomine Baronagii omnes quodarn inodo re^ni ordin:s conti-
nciUur. Ccif/J.

2 mark

254 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

mark of knighthood) was accounted a degrading,
and looked upon to be fo great a mark of infamy,
that he who had fuffer'd it, could never bear any
honour or office in the commonwealth ^ and there
was no dignity fo high, but every knight was capable
of it. There was no diftindlion of men above it,
and even to this day Baron, or Varon, in their lan-
guage, fignifies no more than Vir in latin, which is
not properly given to any man unlefs he be free.
The like was in France, till the coming in of the
third race of kings, in w^hich time thetwelve peers
(of whom fix only were laymen) were raifed to a
higher dignity, and the commands annexed made
hereditary ; but the honour of knighthood was there-
by no way diminifhed. Tho' there were dukes, I
earls, marquiifes and barons in the time of FroifTart,
yet he ufually calls them knights : and Philip de
Commines, fpeaking of the moft eminent men of
his time, calls them good, wife or valiant knights.
Even to this day the name of gentlemen compre-
hends all that is raifed above the common people ;
Henry the fourth ufually called himfelf the firft gen-
tleman in France ^ and 'tis an ordinary phrafe among
them, when they fpeak of a gentleman of good birth,
to fay, // ejl 72oble comme le roy ; he is as noble as
the king. In their general allembly of ellates, the
chamber of the nobleffe, which is one -of three, is
compofed of the deputies fentby the gentry of every
province ; and in the inquiry made about tlie year
1668 concerning nobility, no notice was taken of
fuch as had affumed the titles of earl, marquis,
vifcount, or baron, but only of thofe who called
themfelves gentlemen -, and if they could prove that
name to belong to them, they were left to ufe the
other titles as they pleafed. When duels were in
fafhion (as all know they v/ere lately) no man, ex-
4 cept

StSz. 28. CONCERNING GOVERNiMENT. 255

cept the princes of the blood, and marechals of
France, could with honour refufe a challenge from
any gentleman : The firft, becaufe it was thought
unfit, that he who might be king, iliould fight with
a fubjedl to the danger of the commonwealth, which
might by that means be deprived of its head : the
others being by their ofHce commanders of the no-
bilitv, and judges of all the controverfies relating to
honour that happen amongft them, cannot reafon-
ably be brought into private contefts with any. In
Denmark, Jtobleman and gentkfnan is the fame
thing; and till the year 1660, they had the princi*
pal part of the government in their hands. When
Charles Guftavus, king of Sweden, invaded Poland
in the year 1655, 'tis faid, that there were above
three hundredthoufand gentlemen in arms to refill:
him. This is the nobility of that country , kings
are chofen by them : every one of them will fay, as
in France, " He is noble as the king." The laft king
was a private man among them, not thought to have
had more than four hundred pounds a year. He
who now reigns was not at all above him in birth
or eftate, till he had raifed himfelf by great fervices
done for his country in many wars ; and there was
not one 2:entleman in the nation who mi2:ht not
have been chofen as well as he, if it had pleafed
the affembly that did it.

This being the nobility of the northern nations,
and the true baronage of England, 'tis no wonder
that they were called Nobiles ; the moli eminent
among them Magnates, Principes, Proceres 3 and
fo numerous that they were efteemed to be multi-
tudo infinita. One place was hardly able to contain
them ; and the inconveniences of calling them all
together appeared to be fo great, that they in time
chofe rather to meet by reprefentatlvcs, than every

one

2^6 DISCOURSES ' Chap. Ill,

one in his own perfon. The power therefore re-
maining in them, it matters not what method they
obferved in the execution. They who had the fub-
ftance in their hands, might give it what form they
pleafed. Our author fufficiently manifefis his igno-
rance, in faying there could be no knights of the
fliires in the time of the Saxons, becaufe there
were no fhires ; for the very word is Saxon, and we
find the names of Barkfl:iire, Wiltiliire, Devonihire,
Dorfetfliire, and others moft frequently in the wri-
tings of thofe times ; and dukes, earls, thanes or
aldermen, appointed to command the forces, and
look to the diftribution of juftice in them. Selden *
cites Ingulphus for faying, that '' Alfred was the firft
*' that changed the provinces, &c.into counties :" but
refutes him, and proves that the diftindtion of the
land into iliires or counties (for fliire fignified no
more than the fliare or part committed to the care
of the earl or comes) was far more antient. Whe-
ther the firft divifions by the Saxons were greater or
lefier than the (hires or counties now are, is nothing
to the queftion : they vv'ho made them to be as they
were, could have made them greater or leffer as
they pleafed. And w^hether they did immediately,
or fome ages after that diftindion, ceafe to come to
their great aflemblies, and rather choofe to fend their
deputies ; or, whether fuch deputies were chofen
by counties, cities and boroughs, as in our days, or
in any other manner, can be of no advantage or pre-
judice to the caufe that I maintain. If the power
of the nation, when it was divided into feveri king-
doms, or united under one, did refide in the Mickle-
gemots or Wittenagemots 5 if thefe coi.filled of the
nobihty and people, who were fometimes fo nume-
rous that no one place could well contain them 5 and

* Seidell's Tit. of hon. p. 2. c. c.

Sed. 28. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 257

if the preference given to the chief among them,
was on account of the offices they executed, either
in relation to war or juftice, which no man can deny,
I I have as much as ferves for my purpofe. 'Tis in-
different to me, whether they were called earls,
I dukes, aldermen, hcrotoghs or thanes : for 'tis cer-
i tain that the titular nobility now in mode amongd
; us has no refemblance to this antient nobility of Eng-
land. The noveltv therefore is on the other fide,
and that of the worft fort ^ becaufe by giving the
name of noblemen (v/hich antiently belonged lo
fuch as had the greateft interefts in nations, and
were the fupporters of their liberty) to court- crea-
tures, who often have none, and either acquire their
honours by money, or are preferred for fervile and
fometimes impure fervices rendered to the perfon that
reigns, or elfe for mifchiefs done to their country,
the conftitution has been wholly inverted, and the
truft repofed in the kings (who in fome mcafure
had the diipofal of offices and honours) mifemploy*d.
This is farther aggravated by apprppriating the name
of noblemen foiely to them ^ whereas the nation
having been antiently divided only into freemen or
noblemen (who were the fame/ and villains ; the
firlt were, as Tacitus fays of their anceflors the
Germans, * " exempted from burdens and contri-
butions, and referved like arms for the ufes of war,"
whiift the others were little better than flaves, an-
pointed to cultivate the lands, or lo other fervile
offices. And I leave any reafonable man to judo-e,
whether the latter condition be that of thofe wc now
call commoners. Neverthelefs, he that will believe
the title of noblemen flill to belong to thofe only
who are fo by patent, may guefs how well our wars

• * Exempt! oneribiis & coUationibus, S< tantum in ufum prali >ruin
reponti, velutitelaSiarma beiiiirelbrvantur. Corn. ^i.t;V.deiiiorib. Germ. -

^ Vol. II. S would

258 D I S C O U .R'S E S Chap. Hi.

would be managed if they were left folely to fuch as
are fo by that title. If this be approved, his majefly
may do well with his hundred and fifty noblemen,
eminent in valour and military experience as they
are known to be, to make fuch wars as may fall up-
on him, and leave the defpifed commons under the
name of villains, to provide for themfelves if the fuc-
cefs do not anfwer his expedations. But if the com-
mons are as free as the nobles, many of them in
birth equal to the patentees, in eftate fuperior to
moft of them ; and that it is not only expedled they
(liould affiit him in wars with their perfons and pur-
fes, but acknowledged by all, that the fhrength and
virtue of the nation is in them, it muft be confefs'd,
that they are true noblemen of England, and that
all the privileges antiently enjoy 'd by fuch, muft ne-
ceffarily belong to them, fmce they perform the
ofiices to which they were annexed. This fliews how
the nobility were juftly faid to be almoft infinite in
number, fo that no one place was able to contain
them. The Saxon armies that came over into this
country to a wholefom and generative climate, might
well increafe in four or five ages to thofe vaft num-
bers, as the Franks, Goths and others had done in
Spain, France, Italy, and other parts : and when
they were grown fo numerous, they found them-
felves neceflarily obliged to put the power into the
hands of reprefentatives chofen by themfelves, which
they had before exercifed in their own perfons. But
thefe two Vv^ays differing rather in form than eflTen-
tially, the one tending to Democracy, the other tp
Ariftocracy, they are equally oppofite to the abfo-
hite dominion of one man reigning for himfelf, and
governing the nation as his patrimony 5 and equally
alTert the rights of the people to put the government
into fuch a form as beft pleafes themfelves. This

was

Sea. 28. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 259

was fuitable to what they had pradlifed in their own
country ; " de minoribus confultant Principes, de
*' majoribus omnes/' * Nay, even theie, IhialU
*' er matters" cannot be faid properly to relate to
the king ; for he is but one, and the word '' Prin-
" cipes" is in the plural number, and can only f^g-
nify iuch principal men, as the fam.e autlior fays
were chofen by the general aflcmblies to dojuftice,
&c. and to each of them one hundred comites join-
ed, not only to give advice, but authority to their
aftions.

The word omnes fpoken by a Roman, mufl like-
wife be underftood as it was ufed by them, and im-
ports all the citizens, or fuch as m.ade up the body
of the commonwealth. If he had fpoken of Rome
or Athens whilft thev remained free, he muft hav^e
ufed the fame word (becaufe all thofe of whom the
city confifted had votes how great foever the num-
ber of flaves or ftrangers might have been. The
Spartans are rightly faid to have gained, loft and
recovered the lordfhip or principality of Greece,
They were all lords in relation to their Helotes, and
fo were the Dorians in relation to that fort of men,
which under feveral names they kept, as the Saxons
did their villains, for the perform.ance of the cfnces
which they thought too m_ean for thofe w^ho v/ere
ennobled by liberty, and the ufe of arms, by which
the commonwealth was defended and enlarged.
Tho* the Romans fcorned to give the title of Lord to
thofe who had ufurped a power over their lives and
fortunes j yet every onQ of them was a lord in rela-
tion to his own fervants, and altogether are often
called t Lords of the world : the like is ictn almoft
every where. The government gf Venice having

* Tacit, de mor. Germ.

S z continued

260 D I S C O U R S E a Chap, lit

continued for many ages in the fame families, has
ennobled them all. No phrafe is more common in
Switzerland, than the lords of Bern, or the lords of
Zurich and other places, tho' perhaps there is not
a man amongil them, who pretends to be^ a gentle-
man, according to the modern fenfe put upon that
word. The ftates of the United Provinces are called
high and mighty lords, and the fame title is given
to each of them in particular. Nay, the word Heer
which fignifies Lord both in high and low^ Dutch,
is as common as Monfieur in France, Signer in Italy,
or Sennor in Spain -, and is given to every one who
is not of a fordid condition, but efpecially to foldiers:
and tho' a common foldier be now a much meaner
thing than it was antiently, no man fpeaking to a
company of foldiers in Italian, ufes any other ftile ,
than Signori Soldati ; and the like is done in other
languages. 'Tis not therefore to be thought ftrange,
if the Saxons, who in their own country had fcorn-
ed any other employment than that of the fword,
ihould think themfelves farther ennobled, when by
their arms they had acquired a great and rich coun-
try, and driven out or fubdued the former inhabi-
tants. They might well diftinguiili themfelves
from the villains they brought with them, or the
Britons they had enfxaved. They might well be
called '^ Magnates, Proceres regni, Nobiies, Angliae
" Nobilitas, Barones /' and the aflemblies of them
juftly called '' Concilium regni generale, Univerfi-
*' tas totlus Anglis Nobilium, Univerfitas Barona-
*' gii," according to the variety of times and other
occurrences. We have fuch footfteps remaining
of the name of Baron, as plainly fliew the iignifica-
tion of.it. The barons of London and the Cinq ports
are known to be only the freemen of thofe places.
In the petty court-barons, every man who may be
■ • of

Sea. 28. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 261

of a jury is a baron. Tlicle are noblemen ; for
there are noble nations as well as noble men in nati-
ons. The Mammalukes accounted thenifelves to
be all noble, tho' born flaves ; and when they had
ennobled themfelves by the ufe of arms, they iook'd
upon the nobleft of the Egyptians as their flaves.
Tertulliaa v/riting, not to fome eminent men, but
to the whole people of Carthage, calls them Anti-
quitate nobiles, nobilitate felices. Such were the
Saxons, ennobled by a perpetual application to thofe
exercifcs that belong to noblemen, and au abhor-
rence to any thing that is vile and fordid.

Left this fhould feem far fetch'd, to thofc who
pleafe themfelves with cavilling, they are to know,
that the fame general councils are expreffed by other
authors in other words. They are called '' * 1 he
general council of the bifliops, noblemen, counts,
all the wife men, elders, and people of the whole
-^ kingdom," in the timeoflna. In that of Ed-
ward the elder, " -f- The great council of thebilhops,
'^ abbots, noblemen and people." William of
Malmfbury calls them, '' j| The general fenate and
*' affembly of the people." Sometimes they are in
fhort called clergy and people ; but all exprefs the
fame power, neither received from, nor limitable by
kings, who are always faid to be chofen or made,
and fometimes depofed by them. William tiie
Norman found and left the nation in this condition :
Henry the fecond, John and Henry third, who had
nothing but what was conferred upon them by the
fame clergy and people, did fo too. Magna '.haita
could give nothing to the people, who in themfelves

* Commune concilium epifccporum, proccrum, comitum ^^ om-
nium fapientam, fenioram & popalorum tOLL'sre^ri Ee^-^. Heel- Hil.

f Magnum concilium epilcoporum, abbatum, fidelium, proLcruni
& populorum.

J Senatum generalem & populi conventum.

S 3 had

tz62 DISCOURSES Chap. IlL

h?.d all ', and only reduced into a fmall volume the
rights which the nation was refolved to maintain ;
brought the king to confefs, they were perpetually
inherent, and time out of mind enjoyed, and to
fwear that he would no way violate them -, if he did,
he wasipfo fadro excommunicated; and being there-
by declared to be an execrable perjur'd perfon, they
knew how to deal with him. This adl has been
confirmed by thirty parliaments ; and the proceed-
ings with kings, who have violated their oaths, as
well before as after the time of Henry the third, which
have been already m.entioned, are fufficient to fhew^,
that England has always been governed by itfelf, and
jiever acknowledged any other lord than fuch as they
thought fit to fet up.

SECT. XXIX.

The king was never majler of the foil.

"^ HOSE who without regard to truth, refolve to
infift upon fuch points as they think may ferve
their defigns, when they find it cannot be denied
that the powers before mentioned have been exer-
cifed by the Englifh and other nations, fay, that they
were the conceflions ol kings, who being m.afters of
the foil, might beftow parcels upon fome perfons
with fuch conditions as they pleafed, retaining to,
themfelves the fjpreme dominion of the whole: and
having already, as they think, made them the foun-
tains of honour, they proceed to make them alfo the
fountains of property; and for proof of this alledge,
that all lands, tlio' held of mefne lords, do by their
tenures at lail refult upon the king, as the head
from whom they are enjoyed. This might be of
force if it were true : but matters of the highell
importance requiring a moft evident proofs we are

to

S'ta. 29; CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 26^

to examine, firfl, if it bepoffible; and in the next
place, if it be true.

I. For the firft ; no man can give what he has
not. Whoever therefore will pretend that the king
has beftowed this propriety, muft prove that he had
it in himfelf. I confefs, that the kings of Spain and
Portugal obtained from the pope grants of the terri-
tories they poflefled in the Weft-Indies 3 and this
might be of fome ftrength, if the pope as vicar of
Chrift had an ahfokite dominion over the whole
earth; but if that fail, the whole falls to the ground,
and he is ridiculoufly liberal of that which no way
belongs to him. My bufinefs is not to difpute that
point ; but before it can have any influence upon
our affairs, our kings are to prove, that they are lords
of England upon the fame title, or fome other
equivalent to it. When that is done we fliall know
tipon whom they have a dependance, and may at
leifure confider, whether we ought to acknowledge,
and fubmit to fuch a power, or give reafons for our
refufal. But there being no fuch thing in our pre-
fent cafe, their property muft be grounded upon
fomethlng elfe^ or we may juftly conclude that they
have none.

In order to this 'tis hardly worth the pains to fearch
into the obfcure remains of the Britifii hiftories: for
when the Romans deferted our ifland, they did not
confer the right they had (whether more or lefs) up-
on any man, but left the enjoyment of it to the poor

i remainders of the nation, and their own eftablilhed
colonies, who were grown to be one people with the
natives. The Saxons came under the condud of
Henmft and Horfa, who feem to have been fturdy

I pirates; but did not (that I can learn) bear any
charadlers in their perfons of the fo much admired

Ilbvereign majefty, that fliould give them an abfolute

/c"l

264 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

dominion or propriety, either in their own countrv,
or any other they fliould let their feet upon. They
came with about a hundred men, and choofing rather
to ferve Vortigern^% than to depend upon what they
could get by rapine at fea, hved upon a fmall pro-
portion of land by him allotted to them. Tho' this
feems to be but a flender encouragemeiit, yet it was
enough to invite many others to follow their example
and fortune •> fo that their number increafing, the
county of Kent was given to them, under the obli-
gation of ferving the Britons in their wars. Not long
after, lands in -Northumberland w^ere beftowed upon
another company of them ^v/ith the fame condition.
This was all the title they had to what they enjoyed,
till they treacheroufly killed four hundred and iixty,
or, as William of :Vlalmibury fays, three hundred
principal men of the Britilh nobility, and made
Vortigern prifoner -f-, who had been fo much their
benefad:or, that he feems never to have deferved well
but from them, and to have incens'd the Britons by
the favour he fhew^'d them^ as much as by the worft
, of his vices. And certainly actions of this l<ind,
compofed of falfhood and cruelty, can never create
a right, in the opinion of any better men than Fil-
mer and his difciples, who think that the power only
is to be regarded, and not the means by which it is
obtained. But tho' it fhould be granted that a right
had been thus acquired, it muft accrue to the nation,
not to Hengift and Horfa. If fuch an acquifition be
called a conquefl, the benefit muft belong to thofe
that conquered. This was not the work of two men ;
and thofe who had been free at home, can never be
thought to have left their own country, to fight as
flaves for the glory and profit of two men in another.

« Mat. Vv^eftm. Flor. Hift. f Ibid.

It

Sea. 29. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 2%

It cannot be faid that their wants compelled them,
for their leaders fufFer'd the fame, and could not be
relieved but by their afliftance ; and whether their
enterprize was good or bad, juft or unjuft, it was the
'fame to all : no one man could have any right pecu-
liar to himfelf, unlefs they v/ho gained it, did confer
it upon him : and 'tis no way probable, that they
who in their own country had kept their princes
within very narrow limits, as has been proved, fhould
refign themfelves, and all they had, as foon as they
came hither. But we have already ftewn, that they
always continued mod obftinate defenders of their
liberty, and the government to which they had been
accuftomed ; that they managed it by themfelves,
and acknowledged no other laws than their own.
Nay, if they had made fuch a refignation of their
right, as was neceffary to create one in their leaders,
it would be enough to overthrov/ the propoiition ;
for 'tis not then the leader that gives to the people,
-but the people to the leader. If the people had not
a right to give what they did give, none w^as con- ^
ferred upon the receiver: if they had a right, he that
jChould pretend to derive a benefit from thence, muft
prove the grant, that the nature and intention of it
may appear.

2. To the fecond : if it be faid that records teftify
all grants to have been originally from the king 5 I
anfwer, that tho' it were confeffed, ( which i abfo-
lutely deny, and affirm that our rights and liberties are
. innate, inherent, and enjoy 'd time out of mind
before we had kings) it could be nothing to the
queftipn, which is concerning reafon and juftice ;
and if they are wanting, the defect can never be
fupplied by any matter of fa(5l, tho' never fo clearly
proved. Or if a right be pretended to be grounded
Upon a matter of faft, the thing to be uroved is, that

the

265 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

the people did really confer fuch a right upon the firft?
or Ibnie other kings : and if no fuch thing do
appear, the proceedings of one or more kings as if
they had it, can be of no value. But in the prefent
cafe, no fuch grant is pretended to have been made,
either to the firft, or to any of the following
kings ; the right they had not their fucceflbrs could
not inherit, and confequently cannot have it, or
at moft no better title to it than that of ufur-
pation.

But as they v^ho enquire for truth ought not to de-
ny or conceal any thing, I may grant that manors,
&c. were enjoyed by tenure from kings -, but that
will no way prejudice the caufe I defend, nor fignify
more, than that the countries which the Saxons had
acquired, were to. be divided among them ; and to
avoid the quarrels that might arife, if every man
took upon him to feize what he could, a certain
method of m.aking the diftribution was neceffarily
to be fixed ; and it was fit, that every man fhould
have fomething in his ov/n hands to juflify his title
to what he pofTefTed, according to which controver-
fies fliould be determined. This mult be teftified
by fome body, and no man could be fo fit, or of fo
much credit as hewho v/as chief among them; and
this is no more than is ufual in all the focieties of
the world. The mayor of every corporation, the
fpeaker or clerk of the houfe of peers or houfe of
commons, the firft prefident of every parliament, or
prefidial in France -, the conful, burgermafter, ad-
voyer or bailiff in every free town in Holland, Ger-
many or Switzerland, fign the public ads that pafs
in thofe places. The dukes of Venice and Genoa
do the like, tho* they have no other power than what
is conferred upon them, and of themfelves can do
little or nothing. The grants of our kings are of the

.fame

Sea. 29. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, '^.(i^

fame nature, tho' the words mcro motu noftro feem
to imply the contrary ; for kings fpeak always in the
plural number, to ihew that they do not act for
tliemfelves, but for the focleties over which they
are placed; and all the veneration that is, or can be
given to their ads, dees not exalt them, but thole
from whom their authority is derived, and for v/hom
they are to execule. The tyrants of the Eaft and
other barbarians whofe power is moft abfolute, fpeak
in the fingle number, as appears by the decrees of
Nabuchodonofor, Cyrus, Darius and Ahafuerus re-
cited in fcripture, with ot hers that we hear of daily
from thofe parts: but whei%foever there is any thing
of civility or regularity in government, the prince
uics the plural, to fhew that he ads in a public
capacity. From hence, fays Crotius"*, the rights of
kings to fend ambaiFadors, make leagues, &c. do
arife : the confederacies made by them do not ter-
•minate with their lives, becaufe they are not for
themfelves; they fpeak not in their own perfons, but
as reprefenting their people ; and " -f- a king who is
" depriv'd of his kingdom, lofes the right of fending
" ambaiTadors," becauie he can no lon2;er fpeak for
thofe, who by their own confent, or by a foreign
force, are cut off from him. The queilion is not
whether fuch a one be juftly or unjuftly deprived
(for that concerns only thofe who do it or fuffer it)
but whether he can oblige the people ; and 'tis ridi-
culous for any nation to treat with a man that can-
not perform what fhali be agreed, or for him to flipu-
late that which can oblige, and will be made gocd
only by himfelf.

But tho' much may be left to the difcretion cf
kings in the diftribution of lands and the like, yet

* Dejur. bell.

•f Rex regno exutus, jus legandi amittit. G7ot,

it

268 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

it no way diminiflies the right of the people, nor
confers any upon them otherwife to difpofe of what
belongs to the public, than may tend to the com-
mon good, and the accomplifhment of thofe ends
for which they are entrufted. Nay, if it were true,
that a conquered country did belong to the crown,
the king could not difpofe of it, becaufe 'tis annexed
to the office, and not alienable by the perfon. This
is not only found in regular mixed monarchies (as in
Sweden, where the grants made by the laft kings
have been lately refcinded by the general affembly of
cftates, as contrary to law) but even in the moft ab-
folute, as in France, where the prefent king, who
has ftretched his power to the utmoft, has lately
acknowledged that he cannot do it ; and according to
the known maxim of the ftate, that the demeafnes
of the crown, which are defigned for the defraying
of public charges, cannot be aliena.ed, all the
grants made within the laft fifteen years have been
annulled ; even thofe who had bought lands of the
crown have been called to account, and the fums
given being compared with the profits received, and
a moderate intereft allowed to the purchafers, fo much
of the principal as remained due to them has been
repaid, and the lands refumed,

SECT. XXX. S

Henry the firfi ivas king of England by as good a .
title as any of his predecejfors or fuccejfors.

HAVING made it appear, as I fuppofe, that
the antient nobility of England was compofed
of fuch men as had been ennobled by bearing arms in the
defence or enlargement of the commonwealth 3 that
the dukes, earls, &c, were thofe who commanded
them i that they and their dependants received lands

for

Seel. 30. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 269

for fuch fervices, under an obligation of continuing
to render the like, and according to their feveral
degrees and proportions, to provide and maintain
horfes, arms and men for the fame ufes j it cannot
be denie4 that they were fuch gentlemen and lords of
manors, as we now call commoners, together with
the freeholders, and fuch as in war were found moft
able to be their leaders. Of thefe the Micklegemots,
Wittenagemots, and other public affemblies did con-
lift ; and nothing can be more abfurd than to afiign
the names and rights of duke, earl and vifcount,
which were names of offices, to thofe who have not
the offices, and are no way fit for them. If our
author therefore had faid, that fuch as thefe who had
always compofed the great councils of our nation,
had in favour of Henry the firft, beftowed the crown
upon him, as they had done upon his father and
brother, I fhould agree with him : but 'tis the utmoft
extravagance to fay, that he who had neither title
nor poiTeffion, fhould give the power to thofe v/ho
had always been in the pofleffion of it, and exercifed
it in giving to him whatfoever he had. But I moft
wonder he fliould fo far forget himfelf, to call this
Henry an ufurper, and detrad: from the validity of
his a(fts, becaufe he had no title -, whereas there
neither is, was, or can be an ufurper if there be any
truth in his dodtrine : for he plainly tells us, we are
only to look to the power, and not at all to the
means and ways by which it is obtained 5 and making
no difference between a king and a tyrant, enjoins
an equal fubmiffion to the commands of both. If
this were only a flip of his pen, and lie did really take
this Henry to be an ufurper becaufe he had not a good
title, I fhould defire to know the marKS by which
a lawful king is diftinguiftied from an ufurper, and
in what a juft title does confift, If he place it in an
2 • hereditary

2yo DISCOURSES Chap. III.

hereditary fucceflion, we ought to be informed,
whether this right muft be deduced from one univer-
fal lord of mankind, or from a particular lord of
every people : if from the univerfal lord, the fame
defcent that gives him a right to the dominion of
any one country, enfiaves the whole world to him :
if from the particular lord of one place, proof muft
be given how he came to be fo : for if there was a
defedl in the firft, it can never be repaired, and the
poffeffion is no more than a continued ufurpation.
But having already proved the abfurdity of any pre-
tence to either, I fhall forbear the repetition, and
only fay, that if the courfe of fucceflion may never be :
juftly interrupted, the family of Meroveus could not
have had any right to the crown of France ; Pepin
was an uiurper, if it muft for ever have continued in
the defcendants of Meroveus ; and Hugh Capet could
have no title, if the race of Pepin might not be dif--
poflefs'd. I leave our author to difpute this point
with the king of France ; and when he has fo far '
convinced him that he is an ufurper, as to perfuade
him to refign his crown to the houfe of Auftria
claiming from Pharamond, or to that of Lorrain as
defcended from Pepin, I can give him half a dozen
more knots which will not be with lefs difficulty
\intied, and which inftead of eftabiiiliing the titles '
of fuch kings as are known to us, will overthrow them '
all, unlefs a right be given to ufurpation, or the con-
fent of a people do confer it.

But if there is fuch a thing as an ufurper, and a rule
by which men may judge of ufurpation, 'tis not
only lawful but neceflary for us to examine the titles
of fuch as go under the name of kings, that we may
know whether they are truly fo or not, left through
ignorance we chance to give the veneration and obedi-
Ciice that is due to a king, to one who is not a king.

Se6l. 30. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 271

and deny it to him, who by an uninterruptible line
of defcent is our natural lord, and thereby prefer the
worftof menand our moft bitter enemy before the
perfon we ought to look upon as our father : and if
this prove dangerous to one or more kings, 'tis our
author's fault, not mine.

If there be no ufurper, nor rule of diftinguifhing
him from a lawful prince, Filmer is the worll of all
triflers and impoftors, who grounds his arguments in
the moft ferious matters upon what he efteems to
be falfe : but the truth is, he feems to have fet him-
felf againft humanity and common fenfe, as much
as againft law and virtue ; and if he who fo fre-
quently contradicts himfelf, can be faid to mean
any thing, he would authorize rapine and m.urder,
and perfuade us to account thofe to be rightful kings,
who by treachery and other unjuft means overthrow
the right of defcent which he pretends to efteem fa-
cred, as well as the liberties of nations, which by
better judges are thought to be fo, and gives the
odious name of ufurpation to the advancement of one
who is made king by the confent of a willing people.

But if Henry the firft were an ufurper, I defire to
know whether the fame name belongs to all our '
kings, or which of them deferves a better, that we
may underftand whofe ads ought to be reputed le-
gal, and to whofe defcent we owe veneration, or
whether we are wholly exempted from all : for I
cannot fee a pofllbility of fixing the guilt of ufurpa-
tion upon Henry the firft, without involving many,
if not all our kings in the fame.

If his title was not good becaufe his brother Ro-
bert was ftill living, that of Rufus is by the fame
reafon overthrown ; and William their father being
a baftard could have none. This fundamental de-
feft could never be repair'd ; for the fucceflbrs could

inh^it

272 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

inherit no more than the right of the iirft, which
was nothing. Stephen could deduce no title ^ither
from Norman or Saxon 5 whatfoever Henry the fe-
cond pretended, muft be from his mother Maud,
and any other might have been preferred before her
as well as he. If her title was from the Normans,
it muil be void, fince they had none ^ and the ftory
of Edgar Atheling is too impertinent to deferve
mention. But however, it could be of no advantage
to her 5 for David king of Scotland, brother to
her mother from whom only her tide could be de-
rived, was then alive with his fon Henry, who dy-
ing: not lono; after, left three fons and three daughters,
whofe pofterity being diitributed into many families
of Scotland, remains to this day ; and if proximity
of blood is to be confider'd, ought always to have
been preferred before her and her defcendants, unlefs.
there be a law that gives the preference to daughters
before fons. What right foever Henry the fecond
had, it muft neceiTarily have perifhed with him,
all his children having been begotten in manifeft
adultery on Eleanor of Gafcony, during the life of
Lewis king of France her firft huiband : and no-
thing could be alledged to colour the bufmefs, but
a difpenfation from the pope diredtly againil the law
of God, and the words of our baviour, who lays.
That a wife cannot be put away unlefs for adul-
tery, and he that marrieth her that is put away
committeth adultery." The pollution of this
fpring is not to be cured 3 but tho' it fhould pafs
unregarded, no one part of the fucceilion fince that
time has remained intire. John was preferred be-
fore Arthur his elder brother's fon : Edward the
third was made king by the depofition of his father :
Henry the fourth by that of Richard the fecond. %If
the houfe of Mortimer or York had the right, Henry

the

<c
cc

cc

S^d:, so, CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 2ys

the fourth, fifth, and fixth, were not kings, and all
who claim under them have no title. However,
Richard the third could have none ; for the children
of his elder brother the duke of Clarence were then
living. The children of Edward the fourth may be
fufpedled of baftardy ; and tho* it may have been
otherwife, yet that matter is not fo clear as things
of fuch impor:ance ought to be, and the confequence
may reach very far. But tho* that fcruple uerere-
nibved, 'tis certain that Henry the fevcnth was not
king in the right of his wife Elizabeth, for he reign-
ed before and after her ; and for his other titles^
we may believe Philip de Com mines, ^' who fays,
*' he had neither crofs nor pile." If Henry the
eighth had a right in himfelf, or from his mother,
he fliould have reigned immediately after her death,
which he never pretended, nor to fucceed till his
father was dead, thereby acknowledging he had no
right but from him, unlefs the parliament and peo-
ple can give it. The like may be faid of his children.
Mary could have no title if fhe was a baftard, be-
gotten in inceft ; but if her mother's marriage was
good and fhe legitimate, Elizabeth could have none.
Yet all thefe were lawful kings and queens -, their
afts continue in force to this day to ail intents and
purpofes : the parliament and people made them to
be fo, when they had no other title. The parlia-
ment and people therefore have tlie pov/er of making
I kings : thofe who are fo m.ade are not ufurpers :
we have had none but fuch for more than fcven
hundred years. They were therefore lawful kings,
or this nation has had none in all that time j and if
cur author like this conclufion, the account from
whence it is drawn may without difficalty be carried
as Iiigh as our Englilli hillories do reach.

* Mem. de Commin.

Vol. II. T - This

274 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

This being built upon the fteddy foundation of
law, hiftory and reafon, is not to be removed by
any man's opinion ; efpecialiy by one accompanied
with fuch circumftanccsas Sir Walter Raleigh was
in during the laft years of his life : and there is
fomething of bafenef^;, as well as prevarication, in
turning the words of an eminent perfon, reduced to
great difficulties, to a fenfe no way agreeing with
his former adions or writings, and no lefs tending
to impair his reputation than to deceive others. Our
author is highly guilty of both, in citing Sir Walter
E^aleigh to invalidate the great charter of our liber-
ties, as '' begun by ufurpation, and fliewed to the
*' world by rebellion 3" whereas no fuch thing, nor
any thing like it in word or principle can be found
in the v/orks that deferve to o;o under his name. The
dialogue in que', ion, v/ith fome other fmall pieces
publiflied after his death, deferve to be efteemed
fpurious : or if, from a delire of life, when he knew
his head lay under the ax, he was brought to fay
things no w^ay agreeing with what he had formerly
profefs'd, they ought rather to be burled in oblivion,
than produced to blemifh his memory. But that
the public caufe may not fuffer by his fault, 'tis
convenient the world lliould be informed, that the'
he was a well qualified gentleman, yet his morals
were no way ercad:, as appears by his dealings with
the brave earl gi Effex. And he was fo well affift-
ed in his hiftory of the world, that an ordinary man
with the fame helps might have perform'd the fame
things. Neitlier ought it to be accounted ftrange,
if that which he writ by himfelf had the tinfture of
another fpirit, when he was deprived of that affift-
ance, tho' his life had not depended upon the will
of the prince, and he had never faid, that ^ *'*the

* See Sir W. Kaleigh'i E pi file t» Ki^g James.

** bonds

S^a. 31. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 275

*' bonds of fubje(frs to their kings fhould always be
*' wrought out of iron, and thofe of kings to their
" fabiedls out of cobwebs."

SECT. XXXI.

Ffre nations have a right of meetings 'xhen a?id
ivhere they plea Je^ imlefi they deprive the7iijehes
of it.

Perverted judgment always leads inen into a
wrong way, and perfuades them to believe
that thofe things favour their caufe, that utterly over-
throv/ it. For a proof of this, I deiire our author's
words may be confider'd. '' In the former parlia-
*' ments, fays he, inftituted and continued fincc
*' Henry the firft his time, is not to be found the
" ufage of any natural liberty of the people : for all
" thofe liberties that are claim.ed in parliament, are
" Hberties of grace from the king, and not the liber-
" ties oi nature to the people : for if the liberty
^' were natural, it would give power unto the mul-
*' titude to aflemble themfelves, Vv^hen and where
" they pleafed, to beflov/ the fovereignty, and by
'' pactions to limit and direcl the exercife bf it.'"
And I fay that nations being naturally free m.ay meet,
when and where they pleafe ; may difpofe of the
fovereignty, and may dire(5t or limit the exercife of
it, unlefs by their own adl they have deprived them-
felves of that rig] it : and there could never have been
a lawful affembly of any people in the world, if
they had n.ot had that pov.er in them.felves. It v/as
proved in the preceding fedlionj that all our kings
having no title, were no more than what the nobi-
lity and people made, them to be ^ that they could
have^io pov/er but vyhat was g^iven to them, and
pould confer none except what they had received.

T a ' If

276 DISCOURSES Chap. HI.

If they can therefore call parliaments, the power of
calling them muft have been given to them, and
could not be given by any w ho had it not in them-
felves. The Ifraelites met together, and chofeEhud,
Gideon, Samfon, Jephtha, and others, to be their
leaders, whom they judged fit to deliver them from
their enemies. By the fame right they affembled at
Mifpeth to make war againft the tribe of Benjamin,
when juftice w^as denied to be done againft thofe
who had villanoufly abufed the Levite's concubine.
In the like manner they would have made Gideon
king, but he r^fufed. In the fame place they met,
and chofe Saul to be their king. He being dead,
the men of Judah affembled themfelves, and anoint-
ed David : not long after, all the tribes met at He-
bron, made a contraft with him, and received him
as their king. In the fame manner, tho' by worfe
counfel, they made Abfalom king. And the like
was attempted in favour of Sheba the fon of Bichri,
tho' they then had a king chofen by themfelves. When
they found themfelves oppreffed by the tributes that
had been laid upon them by Solomon, they met at
Shechem j and being difpleafed with Rehoboam's
anfwer to their com.plaints, ten of the tribes made
Jeroboam king. Jehu, and all the other kings of
. Ifrael, whether good or bad, had no other title than
was conferred upon them by the prevailing part of
the people j v/hich could not have given them any,
unlefs they had met together ; nor meet together
without the confent, and againft the will of thofe
that reigned, unlefs the power had been in them-
felves.

Where governments are more exadly regulated,
the power of judging when 'tis fit to call the fenate
or people together, is refer'd to one or more magif-

trates ; as in Rome to the confuls or tribunes, in

Athens

Sea. 31. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 277

Athens to the archons, and in Thebes to the beo-
tarches: but none of them could have thefc powers,
unlefs they had been given by thofe who advanced
them to the magiftracies to which they were an-
nexed ', nor could they have been fo annexed, if
thofe who created them had not had the rip;ht in
themfelves, \i thefe officers neglecfled their duty of
calHng fuch affemblies when the public affairs re-
quired, the people met by their own authority, and
punlflied the perfon, or abrogated the magiftracy,
as appears in the cafe of the decemviri, and many
others that might be alledged, if the thing were not
fo plain as to need no further proof The reafon of
this is, that they who inflitute a magiftracy, beft
know whether the end of the inftitution be rightly
purfued or not : and all juft magiftracies being the
fame in effence, tho' differing in form, the fame right
muft perpetually belong to thofe who put the fove-
reign power into the hands of one, a few, or many
men, which is what our author calls the difpofal of
the fovereignty. Thus the Romans did vv^hen they
created kings, confuls, military tribunes, didators,
or decemviri: and it had been moft ridiculous to fay,
that thofe officers gave authority to the people to
meet and choofe them 5 for they who are chofen
are the creatures of thofe who choofe, and are nothing
more than others till they are chofen. The laft king
of Sweden, Charles Guftavus, told a gentleman
who was ambaffador there, that the Swedes having
made him king, when he was poor and had nothing
in the world, he had but one work to do, which
was fo to reign, that they might never repent the
good opinion they had conceived of him. They
raitrht therefore meet, and did meet to confer the
fovereignty upon him, or he could never have had
it : for tho' the kingdom be hereditary to males or

T 3 females,

273 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

females, and Iiis mother was filler to the orea^
Giiftaviis ^ yet having married a fl ranger without
the confent of the eftates, ffie performed not the con-
dition upon which women are admitted to the fuc-
celTion : and thereby falling from her right, he pre-
tended not to any. The adt of his election declares
he had none, and gives the crown to him and th'e
heirs of his body, with this farther declaration, that
the benefit of his ekcfiion fhoiiid no way extend to
his brother prince Adolphus ; and 'tis confefled by
all the Swediih nation, that if the king now reigning
fhould die without children, the eftates would pro-
ceed to a new election.

"Tis rightly obferv'd by our author, that if the
people might meet^ and give the fovereign power,
they might alfo dired: and limit it ; for they did
meet in this and otlier countries, th&y did confer the
fovereign power, they did limit and dired: the exer-
cife ; and the laws of each people fhew in what
manner and meafure it is every where done. Thisis
as certain in relation to kings, as any other magiftrates.
The commifiion of the Roman didlators was, to
take care '' * that the commonwealth might receive
'' no detriment," The fame was fometimes given
to the confuls : king Oifa's confefijon, that he was
m.ade king " -j* to preferve the public liberty," ex-
prefles the fame thing : and Charles Guftavus, who
faid he had no other work, than to crovern in fach a
manner, that they who had made him king might
not repent, ihew^d there was a rule which he ilood
obliged to follow, and an end which he was to pro-
cure, that he might miCrit and preferve their good
opinion. This power of conferring the fovereignty
was exerciied in France by thofe who made Meroveus

* Nequid detrimenti refpublicaaccipiat. T. Liv,

•f in veitrs iiberEads tuilionem. Mat. Par, j

king)

Sed. 31. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 279

king, in the prejudice of the two grandchildren of

Pharamond fons to Clodion ; by thofe who excluded

his race and gave the crown to Pepin j bv thofe who

depofed Lewis le Di^bonair, and Charles Ic Grqs -, by

thofe v/ho brought in five kings, that were either

baftards or ftrangers^ between him and C hark s le

Simple; by thofe who rejeifled his race, and advanced

Hugh Capet 3 by thofe who made Henry the firit

king, to the prejudice of Robert his elder brother,

and continued the crown in the race of Henrv for

ten generations, whilfi: the defcendants of Robert

were only. dukes of Burgundy. The like was done

in Caftille and Arragon, by frequently preferring the

younger before the elder brother; the defcendants of

females before thofe of the male line in the fame de-

sree; the more remote in blood before the neareft ;
^ . " . . . ~

and fometimes baftards before the leo-itimate iffue.

The fame was done in England in relation to every

king, fmce the coming in of the Normans, as I

fliewed in the lafl fection, and other places of this

work.

That they who gave the fovereignty, might alfo
circumfcribe and aired: it, is nianifeft by the feveral
ways of providing for tlie fucceflion infiiituted by
feveral nations. Some are m.erely eledlive, as the
empire of Germany and the kingdom of Poland to
this day ; the kingdom of Denmark till the year
16 DO; that of Sweden till the time of Guilavus
Ericfon, who delivered that nation from the op-
preffion of Chrifliern the fecond the cruel king of
the Danes. In others the eled:ion was confined to
one or more famdlies, as the i.ingdom of the Goths
in Spain to the Balthei and Amalthei In fome, the
eldell man of the reigning family was preferred be-
fore tlie neareft, as in Scotland before the time of

T 4 Kenne-

\

28o DISCOURSES Chap. 111.

^ennethus. In other places the neareft in blood is
preferr'd before the elder if more remote. In fome,
no regard is had to females, or their defcendants, as
in France and Turky. In others they or their de-
fcendants are admitted, either fimply as well as
males ; or under a condition of marrying in the
country, or with the confent of the eflates, as in
Sweden. And no other reafon can be g-iven for this
aimoil infinite variety of conftitutions, than that they
who made them would have itfo 5 which could not
be, if God and nature had appointed one general
rale for all nations. For in that cafe, the kingdom
of France muft be elective, as well as that of Poland
and the empire ; or the empire and Poland heredi-
tary, as that of France : daughters mufl fucceed in
France as well as in England, or be excluded in
England as in France ; and he that would eftablifli
one as tlie ordinance of God and nature, m.ufl
neceflarily overthrow all the reft.

A father exercife of the natural liberty of nations
is difcD /ered in the feveral limitations put upon the
fovciegi power. Some kings, fays Grotius, have
the '* lummum imperium fummo modo"* ;" others,
^' modo non fummo :" and amongft thofe that are
under limil:ations, the degrees as to more or lefs, are
^Imoft infinite, as I have proved already by the ex-
ample of Arragon, antient Germany, the Saxon
kings, the Normans, the kings of Cailille, the pre-
fent empire, with divers others. And I may fafe-
ly fay, that the antient government of France was
much of the fame nature to the time of Charles the
feventh, and Lewis the eleventh ; but the work of
emancipating themfelves, as they call it, begun by
them, is nov/ brou2;ht to oerfedion in a boundlefs

* De jur. bell. & pac.

deva.ion

Sea. 31. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 281

elevation of the king's greatnefs and riches, to the un-
fpeakable mifery of the people.

'Twere a folly to think this variety proceeds from
the concefiions of kings, v/ho naturally delight in
power, and hate that which croffes their will. It
might with more reafon be imagined, that the
Roman confuls, who were brought up in liberty,
who had contracted a love to their country, and
were contented to live upon an equal foot with their
fellow citizens, fhould confine the power of their
magiftracy to a year 3 or that the dukes of Venice
fliould be graciouily pleafed to give power to the
Council often to punifh them capitally if they tranf-
grelTed the laws, than that kings fhould put fuch
fetters upon their power, which they fo much abhor ;
or that they would fuffer them, if they could be
ealily broken. If any one of them fhould prove fo
moderate, like Trajan, to command the prefed:
of the pretorian guard to ufe the fword for him if he
governed well, and againfl him if he did not, it
would foon be refcinded by his fuccefTor ; the law
v;hich has no other flrength than the adl of one man,
may be annulled by another. So that nothing docs
more certainly prove, that the laws made in Teveral
countries to reflrain the power of kings, and varicufly
to difpofe of the fuccefHon, are not from them, than
the frequent examjples of their fury, who have ex-
pofcd themfelves to the greateit dangers, and brouglit
infinite miferies upon the people, through the de-
fire of bredkin2;them. Itmuft therefore be concluded,
that nations have pov/er of meeting together, and of
conferring, limiting, and directing the fovereignty ;
^or all mufl be grounded upon molt m^anifefl injuflice
and ufurpaticn.

No mian can have a power over a nation otherwife
than de jure, or de facto. He v/ho pretends to have

a

2S2 DISCOURSES Chan. Ill

a power de jure, muft prove that it is originally in-
herent in him, or his predecefTor from whom he
inherits^ or that it was juftly acquired by him. The
vanity of any pretence to an original right appears
fufficiently, I hope, from the proofs already given,
that the firft fathers of manl;ind had it not ; or if
thev had, no man could now inherit the fame, there
being no man able to make good the genealogy that
fhould give him a right to the fucceffion. Befides,
the facility we have of proving the beginnings of all
the families that reign among us, makes it as abfurd
for any of them to pretend a perpetual right to do-
minion, as for any citizen of London, whofe parents
and birth we know, to fay he is the very man Noah
who lived in the 'time of the flood, and is now four
or five thoufand years old.

If the power were conferred on him or his pre-
deceiTors, 'tis what v/e aflc ; for the collation can
be of no value, unkfs it be made by thofe who
had a right to do it ; and the original right by de-
fcent failing, no one can have any over a free people
but themfclves, or thofe to whom they have given
it.

If acquifition be pretended, 'tis the fame thing;
for there can be no right to that which is acquired,
unlefs the right- of invading be proved ; and that
being done, nothing can be acquired except what
belonged to the perfon that was invaded, and that
only by him who had the right of invading. No
man ever did or could conquer a nation by his own
ftrength -, no man therefore could ever acquire a per-
fonal right over any ; and if it was conferred upon
him by thofe who made the conqueft with hiiii,
they were the people that did it. He can no more
be faid to Irave the right originally in and from him-
felf, than a maglitrate of R.ome or Athens immedi-
ately

Sea. 31. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. -283

^^ely after his creation ; and having no other at the
beginning, he can have none to eternity ; for the nature
of it muft refer to the original, and cannot be chanp-ed
by timo.

Whatfoever therefore proceeds not from the con-
fent of the people, muft be de fado only, that is,
void of all right -, and 'tis impoiiible there ihould not
be a right of deftroying that which is grounded up-
on none 5 and by the lame rule that one man enjoys
what he gained by violence, another may take it
from him, Cyrus overthrev/ the Aflyrians and
Babylonians, Alexander the Medes and Perfians ;
and if they had no right of making war upon thofe
nations, the nations could not but have a right of re-
covering all tliathad been unjuitly taken from them,
and avenging tlie evils they had fufiered. If the
caufe of the war was originally juft, and not cor-
rupted by an intemperate ufe of the victory, the
conquer'd people was perhaps obliged to be quiet ;
but the conquering arinies that had conferred upon
their generals what they had taken from^ their ene-
mies, might as juflly expe6u an account of what
they had given, and that it fliould be employed ac-
cording to the intention of the givers, as the people
of any c\ty might do from their regularly created
magiftrates ; becaufe it was as impoiiible for Cyrus,
Alexander or Csfar, to gain a power over the armies
they led v/ithout their confent, as for Pericles, Va-
lerius, or any other difarmed citizen to gain more
pov/er in their relpedtive cities than was voluntarily
conferr'd upon them. And I knov/ no other differ-
ence between kingdoms fo conftituted by conquering
armies, and fuch as are eftabli&ed in the moft order-
ly manner, than that the firft ufually incline more
to v/ar and violence, ths latter to juftice and peace.
But there have not been wanting m.any of the iirft fort

Z (efpecially

284 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

(efpecially the nations coming from the north) who
were no lefs exa6l in ordaining that which tended to
the prefervation of Hbcrty, nor lefs fevere in feeing it
punctually performed, than the moft regular com-
monwealths that ever were in the world. And it
can with no more reafon be pretended, that the
Goths received their privileges from Alan or The-
odoric, the Francs from Pharamond or JVIeroveus, and
the Englifli from Ina or Etheked, than that the
liberty of Athens was the gift of Themiilocles or
Pericles, that the empire of Rome proceeded from
the liberality of Brutus or Valerius, and that the
commonwealth of Venice at this day fubfifts by the
favour of the Contarini or Morefini: which muH: re-
duce us to matter of right, fince that of fad: void of
right can fignify nothing.

SECT. XXXII.

l^be powers of Jdngs a7'e fo n)arious according to the
conJlitutioJ2s of fever al fates ^ that no confgue?2ce
can be drawn to the prejudice or advantage of any
one, merely from the name,

N oppofition to v/hat is above faid, fome alledge
the name of king, as if there were a charm in
the v/ord; and our author feems to put more weight
upon it, than in the reafons he brings to fupport his
caufe. But that we may fee there is no efficacy
in it, and that it conveys no other right than what
particular nations may annex to it, we are to -con-
fider,

I. That the moft abfolute princes that are or have
been in the world, never had the name of king -,
whereas it has been frequently given to thofe whofe
powers has been very much reftrained. The Cacfars
were never called kings, till the lixth age of Chrifti-

anity :

Sea. 31. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 285

anity : the Califs and Soldan of Egypt and Babylon,
the great Turk, the Cham of Tartary, or the great
Mogol never took that name, or any other of the
fame fignification. The Czar of Mofcovy has it not,
tho' he is as abfolate a monarch, and his people as
miferable flaves as any in the world. On the other
fide, the chief magiftrates of Rome and Athens for
fome time, thofe of Sparta, Arragon, Sweden, Den-
mark and England, who could do nothing but by
law, have been called kings. This may be enough
to fhew, that a name being no way effential, what
title focver is given to the chief magiftrate, he can
have no other power than the laws and cuftoms of
his country do give, or the people confer upon him.

2. The names of magiftrates are often changed,
tho* the power continue to be the fame : and the
powers are fometimes alter 'd tho' the name remain.
When Odavius Caefar by the force of a mad cor-
rupted foldiery had overthrown all law and right,
he took no other title in relation to military affairs
than that of Imperator, which in the time of liberty
was by the armies often given to pretors and con-
fuls : In civil matters he was, as he pretended, *
content with the power of tribune ; and the like
was obferved in his fucceffor, who to new invented
ufurpations '' gave old and approved names ||." Cn
the other fide, thofe titles which have been render'd
odious and execrable by the violent exercife of an
abfolute power, are fometimes made popular by
moderate elimitations 3 as in Germany, where, tho*
the monarchy feem to be as well temper'd as any,
the princes retain the fame names of Imperator, Csfar
and Auguftus, as thofe had done, who by the ex-

* Tribunitia poteflatecontentus, C, Tacit.
C. Tacit.

cefs

226 DISCOURSES Chap. HI.

cefs of their rage and fury had defolated and cor'
riipted the beft part of the world.

Sometimes the name is changed, tho' the power
in all refpec^ls continue to be the fame. The lords
of * Caftiile had for many ag-es no other title than
that of count ; and when the nobility and people
thought good, they changed it to that of king, with-
out any addition to the power.

The foverei^n masiitrate in Poland, was called
duke till within the laR two hundred years, when
they gave the title of king to one of the Jagellan fa-
mily ; which title has continued to this day, tho'
without any change in the nature of the magiftracy.
And I prefume, no wife man will think, that if the
Venetians fhould give the name of king to their
duke, it could confer any other power upon him
than hehas already, unlefs more fhouldbe conferr'd
by the authority of the Great Council.

3 . The fame names which in fome places denote
the fupreme magiiiracy, in others are fubordinate
or merely titular. In England, France, and Spain,
dukes and earls are fubjeds : in Germany the elec-
tors and princes who are called by thofe names are
little lefs than fovereigns ; and the dukes of Savoy,
Tufcany, Mufcovy and others, acknov/ledge no
fuperior, as well as thofe of Poland and Caftille had
none, when they went under thofe titles. The
fame may be faid of kings. Some are fubjed to a
foreign pov/er, as divers of them were fubjed: to
the Perfian and Babylonian monarchs, who for that
reafon were called the kings of kings. Some alfo
are tributaries ; and when the Spaniards firil; landed
in America, the great kings of Mexico and Peru
had many others under them. Threefcore and ten
kings gathered up meat under the table of Adoni-

* Saavedra. Mariana, Zurita.

bezek.

Sea. 32. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 287

bezek. The Romans had many kings depending
upon them. Herod and thofe of his race were of
this number 5 and the difpute between him and his
fons Ariftobukis and Alexander was to be deter-
mined by them, neither durfl he decide the matter
till it was referred to him. But a right of appeal
did ftill remain, as appears by the cafe of St. Paul
when Agrippa w'as king. The kings of Mauritania
from the time of Maflinifla, were under the like de-
pendance : Jugurtha went to Rome to juilify him-
felf for the death of Micipfa : Juba was command-
ed by the Roman m.agiftrates, Scipio, Petreius and
Afranius : another Juba was made king of the fame
country by Auguftus, and Tiridates of Armenia by
Nero ; and infinite examples of this nature may be
alledged. Moreover, their powers are varioufly re-
gulated, according to the variety of tem^pers in na-
tions and ages. Some have reftrained the powders
that by experience were found to be exorbitant ;
others have diffolved the bonds that were laid upon
them : and laws relating to the inftitution, abro-
gation, enlargement or reftridion of the regal power,
would be utterly infiornificant if this could not be
done. But fuch laws are of no effedl in any other
country than where they are made. The lives of
the Spartans did not depend upon the will of Age-
iilaus or Leonidas, bccaufe Nabuchodonofor could
kill or fave whom he pleafed : and tho' the king 01
Morocco may flab his fubje6ls, throw tliem to the
lions, or hang them upon tenterhooks ; yet a king
of Poland would pn'obably be called to a fevere ac-
count, if he fhould unjuftly kill a fingle man.

SECT

2SB DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

SEC T. XXXIII.

The liberty of a people is the gift of God a fid nature.

¥ any man aflc how nations come to have the
power of doing thefe things; lanfwer, thathber-
ty being only an exemption from the dominion of
another, the queftion ought not to be, how a nation
can come to be free, but how a man comes to have
a dominion over it ; for till the right of dominion be
proved and juftified, liberty fubfifts as arifing from
the nature and being of a man. Tertuliian fpeak-
ing of the emperors fays, '• Ab eo imperium a quo
" fpiritus /* and we taking man in his firft condi-
tion may juftly fay, *' ab eo libertas a quo fpiritus;"
for no man can owe more than he has received. The
creature having nothing, and being nothing but
what the Creator makes him, muft ovvx all to him,
and nothing to any one from whom he has received
nothing. Man therefore muft be naturally free,
unlefs he be created by another power than we have
yet heard of. The obedience due to parents arifes
from hence, in that they are the inftruments of our
generation ; and we are inftrucSted by the light of
reafon, that we ought to make great returns to thofe
from whom under God we have received all. When
they die wx are their heirs, we enjoy the fame rights,
and devolve the fame to our pofterity. God only
who confers this right upon us, can deprive us of it :
and we can no way underftand that he does fo, un-
lefs he had fo declared by exprefs revelation, or had
fet fome diftinguifliing marks of dominion and fub-
jedlion upon men ^ and, as an ingenious perfon not
long iince faid, caufed fome to be born w ith crowns
upon their heads, and all others with faddles upon
their backs. This liberty therefore muft continue,

2 - till

Sed. ^s CONCERNING GOVERNIMENT. 289

till it be either forfeited or willingly refigned. The
forfeiture is hardly comprehenfible in a multitude
that is not entered into any fociety ; for as they are
all equal, and ** equals can have no right over each
*' other *, no man can forfeit anything to one v/ho
can juftly demand nothing, unlefs it may be by a
perfonal injury, v/hich is nothing to this cafe ; be-
caufe where there is no fociety, one man is not bound
by the actions of another. All cannot join in the
fame ad:, hecaufe they are joined in none ; or if they
fliould, no man could recover, much lefs tranfmit
the forfeiture : and not being tranfmitted, it periflies
as if it had never been, and no man can claim any
thing from it.

'Tvv^ill be no lefs difficult to bring refignation to
be fabfervient to our author's purpofe ; for men
could not refign their liberty, unlefs they naturally
had it in themfelves. Refignation is a publick de-
claration of their aifent to be governed by the perfon
to whom they refign ; that is, they do by that adt
conftitute him to be their governor. This neceifa-
rily puts us upon the inquiry, why they do reiign,
how they will be governed, and proves the gover-
nor to be their creature ; and the right of difpofing
the government mufl be in them, or they who re-
ceive it can have none. This is fo evident to com-
mon fenfe, that it were impertinent to afK who m.ade
Carthage, Athens, Rome or Venice to be free cities.
Their charters were not from men, but from God
and nature. When a number of Phoenicians had
found a port on the coaft of Africa, they might per-
haps agree with the inhabitants for a parcel of ground,
|,but they brought their liberty with them. When
a company of Latins, Sabines and Tufcansmet toge-
ther upon the banks of the Tiber, and chofe rather

* Par In carem non habet imperiumt

Vol. II. ' U to

290 DISCOURSES Chap. 111.

to build a city for themfelves, than to live in fuch
as were adjacent, they carried their Kberty in their
own breafts, and had hands and fwords to defend it.
This was their charter ; and Romulus could confer
no more upon them, than Dido upon the Carthagi-
nians. When a multitude of barbarous nations in-
fefted Italy, and no protection could be expeded
from the corrupted and perilhing empire, luch as
agreed to feek a place of reluge in the fcatter'd
iflands of the Adriatic gulf, had no need of any
man's authority to ratify the inftitution of their
government. They who were the formal part of
the city, and had built the material, could not but
have a right of governing it as they pleafed, fince if
they did amifs, the hurt was only to themfelves. 'lis
probable enough that fome of the Roman emperors,
as lords of the foil, might have pretended to a do-
minion over them, if there had been any colour
for it : but nothing of that kind appearing in thir-
teen hundred years, we are not like to hear of any
fuch cavils. 'Tis agreed by mankind, that fub-
jedlion and protection are relative 3 and that he who
cannot protect thole that are under him, in vain pre-
tends to a dominion over them. The only ends for
which governments are conftituted, and obedience
render'd to them, are the obtaining of juftice and
protedlion ; and they who cannot provide for both,
give the people a right of taking iuch ways as belt
pleafe themfelves, in order to their own fafety.

The matter is yet more clear in relation to thofe
who never v/ere in any fociety, as at the beginning,
or renovation of the world after the flood ^ or who
upon the diffolution of the ibcieties to which they
did once belong, or by fome other accident have
been obli2:ed to feek new habitations. Such were
thofe who went from Babylon upon the confufion

of

Sea. 3 3 . CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 2 9 1

of tongues, thofe who efcaped from Troy when it
was burnt by the Grecians ; almoft all the nations
of Europe, with many of Afia and Africa upon the
difTolution of the Roman empire. To which may
be added a multitude of northern nations, who,
when they had increafed to fuch numbers that their
countries could no longer nourifh them, or becaufe
they wanted ikill to improve their lands, were fent
out to provide for themfelves ; and having done fo,
did eredt many kingdoms and ftates, either by them- '
felves, or in union and coalition with the antient
inhabitants.

'Tis in vain to fay, that wherefoever they came,
the land did belong to fome body, and that they who
came to dwell there muft be fubjed: to the laws of
thofe who were lords of the foil -, for that is not
always true in faft. Some come into defert coun-
tries that have no lord, others into fuch as are thinly
peopled, by men who knowing not how to improve
their land, do either grant part of it uponeafy terms
to the new comers, or grow into a union with them
in the enjoyment of the whole ; and hiftories furnifh
us with infinite examples of this nature.

If we will look into our own original, without
troubling our felves v/ith the fenfelefs ftories of Sa-
mothes the fon of Japhet and his magicians, or the
giants begotten by fpirits upon the thirty daughters
of Danaus fent from Phoenicia in a boat without fail,
oars or rudder, we fliall find that wh^n the Ro-
mans abandoned this ifland, the inhabitants were left
to a full liberty of providing for themfelves : and
whether Vv^e deduce our original from them or the
Saxons, or from both, our anceftors were perfe6lly
free -, and the Normans having inherited the fame
right when they came to be one nation with the

U 2 former.

£92 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

former, we cannot but continue fo flill unlefs we
have enflaved our felves.

Nothing is more contraiy to reafon than to ima-
gine this. When the fierce barbarity of the Saxons
came to be foftened by a more gentle climate, the arts
and religion they learnt, taught them to reform their
manners, and better enabled them to frame laws
for the prcfervation of their liberty, but no way
diminifhed their love to it : and tho' the Normans
might defire to get the lands of thofe who had joined
with Harold, and of others, into their hands -, yet
when they were fettled in the country, and by mar-
riac^es united to the antient inhabitants, thev became
true Englifhmen, and no lefs lovers of liberty and
refolute . defenders of it than the Saxons had been.
There was then neither conquering Norman nor con-
quered Saxon, but a great and brave people compofed
of both, united in blood and intereflin the defence of
their common rights, which they fo well maintain-
ed, that no prince fince that time has too violently
encroached upon them, who, as the reward of his
folly, has not lived miferably and died fhamefully.
Such adions of our anceftors do not, as I fuppofe,
favour much of the fubmiilion which patrimonial
Haves do ufually render to the will of their lord. On
the contrary, whatfoever they did was by a power
inherent in themi felves to defend that liberty in which,
they were born. All their kings were created upon
the fame condition, and for the fame ends. Alfred
acknowledged he found and left them perfedly free;
and the confeilion of Offa, that they had not made
him king for his own merits, but for the defence of
their liberty, comprehends all that were before and
after him. They well knew how great the honour
was, to be made head of a great people, and rigo-
roully exad:ed the performance of the ends for

which

Sea. 34. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 293

which fuch a one was elevated, feverely punifhing
thofe who bafely and wickedly betray'd the trufi
repoled in them, and violated all that is moft facred
amons: men; which could not have been iinlefs thev
were naturally free, for the liberty that has no being
cannot be defended.

SECT. XXXIV.

No ve/7erafion paid^ or honour conferred upon a juji
and lauftd niagijlrate^ can duniniJJo the libertv of
a nation,

O M E have fuppofed, that tho' the people be
^^_^ naturally free, and magiftrates created by them,
they do by fuch creations deprive themfelves of that
natural liberty -, and that the names of King, So-
vereign Lord, and Dread Sovereign, being no way
confillent with liberty, they who give fuch titles do
renounce it. Our author carries this very far, and
lays great weight upon the fubmiffive language ufed
by the people, when they '' humbly crave that his
*' majefty would be pleafed to grant their accuflomed
*' freedom of fpeech, and accefs to his perfon ;"
and " give the name of fupplications and petitions to
'' the addreffes made to him :" whereas he anfwers
in the haughty language of " Le Roy le veut, Le
*' Roy s'avifera," and the like. But they who talk
at this rate, (hew, that they neither underftand the
nature of magiftracy, nor the practice of nations.
Thofe who have lived in the highefl: exercife of their
liberty, and have been mofl: tenacious of it, have
thought no honour too great for fuch magiftrates as
were eminent in the defence of their rights, and
were fet up for that end. The name of dread fove-
reign might juftly have been given to a Roman
didtator, or conful, for they had the fovereign autho-

U 3 rity

294 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

rity in their hands, and power fufficient for its exe-
cution. Whiift their magiftracy continued, they
were a terror to the fame men, whofe axes and rods
had been a terror to them the year or month before,
and might be fo again the next. The Romans thought
they could not be guilty of excefs in carrying the
power and veneration due to their dictator to the
hiehefl: and Livv tells us, that his '* ^ Edidswere
^* efteemed facred." I have already fl:iewii that this
haughty people, who might have commanded,
condefcended to join v/ith their tribunes in a petition
to the didlator Papirius, for the life of Qiiintus Fa-
bius, who had fought a battle in his abfence, and
without his order, tho' he had gained a great and
memorable vidtory. The fame Fabius, when con-
ful, was commended by his father QJ'abius Maxi-
mus, for obliging him by his lid:ors to difmount
from his horfe, and to pay him the fame refped that
was due from others. The tribunes of the people,
who were inftituted for the prefervation of liberty,
were alfo efteemed facred and inviolable, as appeai s by
that phrafe, " Sacrofanfta tribunorum potcilas," fo
common in their anticnt writers. No man, Ipre-
fume, thinks any monarchy more limited, or more
clearly derived from a delegated power, than that of
the German emperors -, and yet bacra Cscfarea Ma-
jeftas is the public fUle. Nay, the Hollanders at
this dav call their bursermafcers, tho' thev fee them
ielling herring or tar, " High and mighty lords," as
foon as they are advanced to be of tlie thirty-fix,
forty-two or forty-ei2:ht m.agiiliratcs of a fmall
town, 'Tis no wonder therefore, if a c:reat nation
ihould think it conducing to their own glory, to give
magnificent titles, and ufe fubm.lflive language to
that one man, whom they fet up to be their headj

* Ediduin Diclatorl? pro nu'.r.ine obrei vatjm, ///,'/. I,

3

moft

Sea. 34. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 295

moft efpecially, if we conlider that they came from
a country where fuch titles and language were princi-
pally invented.

Among the Romans and Grecians we hear nothing
of Majelly, Highnefs, Serenity and Excellence
approDriated to a fingle pcrlbn, but receive them
from Germany and other northern countries. We
find " Majeiks populi Romani," and '' Majeftas
*' imperii," in their beft authors ; but no man fpeak-
ing to Julius or Auguftus, or even to the vaineft of
their fucceffi3rs, ever uied thofe empty titles, nor
took upon themfelves the name of fervants, as we do
to every fellow we meet in the flreets. When fuch
ways of fpeaking are once introduced, they muft
needs fwell to a more than ordinary height in all
tranfacl'ions with princes. Moft of them naturally
delight in vanity, and courtiers never fpeak more
truth, than when they moft extol their mafters, and
aliume to themfelves the names that beft exprefs the
moft abjed: ilavery. Thefe being brought into mode,
like all ill cuftoms, increafe by ufe -, and then no
man can omit them without bringing that hatred and
danger upon himfelf, which few will undergo, ex-
cept for fomething that is evidently of great importance.
Matters of ceremony and title at the iirft feem not to
be (o ; and being for fome time negledted, they ac-
quire fach ftrength as not to be eafily removed. From
private ufage they pafs into public adts ; and thofe
flatterers who gave a beginning to them, propofing
them in public councils, where too many of that
ibrt have always infinuated themfelves, gain credit
enough to make them pafs. This work was farther
advanced by the church of Rome, according to
their caftom of favouring that moft, which is moft
vaiii and corrupt j and it has been ufual with the

U 4 popes

%g6 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

popes and their adherents, hberally to gratify princes
for fervices render'd to the church, with titles that
tended only to the prejudice of the people. Thefe
poifonous plants having taken root, grew upfo fail,
that the titles which, within the fpace of a hundred
years, were thought fufficient for the kings and
queens of England, have of late been given to Monk
and his honourable dutchefs. New phrafes have
been invented to pleafe princes, or the fenfe of the
old perverted, as has happen'd to that of '' Le Roy
" s'avifera:" and that which was no more than a li-
berty to con fult with the lords upon a bill prefented by
the connmons, is by fome men now taken for a right
inherent in the king of denying fuch bills as may be
offered to him by the lords and commons ; tho' the
coronation oath oblige him to hold, keep and de-
fend the juft laws and cuftoms, " quas valgus
^^ elegerit." And if a flop be not put to this exor-
bitant abufe, the words ftill remaining in a6ts of
parliament which fliew that their ad:s are our laws,
may perhaps be alfo aboliflied.

But tho' this fhould come to pafs, by the fiacknefs
of the lords and commons, it could neither create a
new right in the king, nor diminifh tliat of the
people : but it might give a better colour to thofe
who are enemies to their country, to render the power
of the crown arbitrary, than anv thino- that is yet
among us.

SECT.

Sea. ^K. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 297

SECT. XXXV.

^he authority given by our law to the aBs performed
by a king de fado, detraB nothing from the peoples
right of creati?2g whom they pleafe,

A i "N HEY who have more regard to the prevail-
J^ ing power than to right, and lay great weight
upon the ftatute of Henry the feventh, which au-
thorizes the ads of a king de fado, ktra not to
confider, that thereby they deftroy all right of
inheritance ; that he only is King de fado, who is
received by the people; and that this reception could
neither be of any value in itfelf, nor be made valid
by a ftatute, unlefs the people and their reprefenta-
tives who make the flatute, had in themfelves the
power of receiving, authorizing and creating whom
they pleafe. For he is not King de fado who calls
himfelf fo, as Perkin or Simnel, but he who by the
confent of the nation is poiTefs'd of the regal power.
If there were fuch a thing in nature, as a natural
lord over every country, and that the right muft go
by defcent, it would be impoffible for any other man
to acquire it, or for the people to confer it upon him,
and to give the authority to the ads of one, who
neither is nor can be a king, which belongs only to
him who has the right inherent in himfelf, and infe-
parable from him. Neither can it be denied, that
the fame power which gives the validity to fuch ads
as are performed by one who is not a king, that be-
longs to thofe of a true king, may alfo make him
king; for the effence of a king confifts in the validity
of his ads. And 'tis equally abfurd for one to pre-
tend to be a king, whole ads as king are no^ valid,
as that his own can be valid if thofe of another are ;
for then the fame indiviiible right which our author,

and

igS DISCOURSES Chap. III.

and thofe of his principles aflert to be infepar-
able from the perfon, would be at the fame time
exercifed and enjoyed by two diftind: and contrary
powers.

Moreover, it may be obfervcd, that this ftatute
was made after frequent and bloody wars concerning
titles to the crown ; and whether the caufe were good
or bad, thofe who were overcome, were not only
fubjedl to be killed in the field, but afterwards to be
profecuted as traitors under the colour of law.
He v/ho gained the vidory, was always fet up to
be king by thofe of his party -, and he never failed to
proceed againft his enemies as rebels. This intro-
duced a horrid feries of the moft deftrudlive mifchiefs.
The fortune of war varied often ; and I think it may
be faid, that there were few, if any, great families
in England, that were not either deitroy'd, or at
leaft fo far fhaken, as to lofe their chiefs, and ma-
ny confiderable brandies of them : and experience
taught, that inftead of gaining any advantage to the
public in point of government, he for wliom they
fought, feidom proved better than his enemy. They
faw that the like might again happen, tho' the title of
the reigning king ihould be as clear as defcent of
blood could make it. This brouo-ht thines into an
uneafy pofture ; and 'tis not llrange, that both the
nobility and commonalty Ihould be weary of it.
No law could prevent the dangers of battle ; for he
that had followers, and would venture himfelf, might
bring them t ^ fuch a deciiion, as v>;as only in the
hand of God. But thinking no more could juftiy be
required to the full performance of their duty to the
king, than to expofe themfclves to the hazard of
battle for him -, and not being anfwerable for the
fuccefs, they would not have that law which they
endeavour'd to fupport^ tu::ncd to their delh'udion by

their

Sefl. 25' CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 299

their enemies, who might come to be the interpreters
of it. But as they could be exempted from this
danger only by their own laws which could authorize
," the adts of a king without a title, and juftify them
. foradting under him, 'tis evident that the power of
the law was in their h'4nds, and that the ad:s of the
perfon who enjoyed the crown were of no value in
themfelves. The law had been impertinent, if it
could have been done without law ; and the inter-
vention of the parliament ufelefs, if the kings de
fa6lo could have given authority to their own acfls.
But if the parliament could make that to have the
efrecl of law, which was not law, and exempt thofe
that ad:ed according to it from the penalties of the
law, and give the fame force to the ad:s of one who
is not king as of one who is, they cannot but have a
power of making him to be king who is not fo ;
that is to fay, all depends intirely upon their au-
thority.

Belides, he is not king who aiTumes the title to
himfelf, or is fet up by a corrupt party 5 but he who
according to the ufages required in the cafe is made
king. It thefe are wanting, he is neither de faclo
nor de jure, but tyrannus fine titulo. Neverthelefs,
this very man, if he comes to be received by the
people, and placed in the throne, he is thereby mad
king de fadto. His ads are valid in law j the fame
fcrvice is due to him as to any other : they who ren-
der it are in the fime manner protected by the law 5
that is to fay, he is truly king. If our author
therefore do allow fuch to be kings, he muft con-
fefs that power to be good which makes them fo,
when they have no right in themfelves. If he deny
it, he muft not only deny that there is any fuch
thing as a king de fadlo, which the ftatute acknow-
ledges.

e

300 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

ledges, but that we ever had any king in England •
for we never had any other than fuch, as I have
proved before.

By the fame means he will fo unravel all the lav/,
that no man lliall know what he has, or w^hat he
ought to do or avoid ; and will find no remedy for
this, unlefs he allow, that laws made without kings
are as good as thole made with them, which returns
to my purpofe : for they who have the power of
making laws, may by law make a king as well as
any other magiftrate. And indeed the intention of
this ftatute could be no other than to fecure mens
perfons and pofTeffions, and fo far to declare the
power of giving and taking away the crown to be in
the parliament, as to remove all difputes concerning
titles, and to make him to be a legal king, whom
they acknowledge to be king.

SECT. XXXVI.

T'/je gefteral revolt cf a nation cannot be called a

rebellion,

AS impoflors feldom make lies to pafs in the
world, without putting falfe names upon
things, fuch as our autlior endeavour to perfuade the
people they ought not to defend their liberties, by
giving the name of rebellion to the moft juft and
honourable adions that have been performed for the
prefervation of them ; and to aggravate the matter,
fear not to tell us that rebellion is like the fin of
witchcraft. But thofe who feek after truth, will
eafiiy find, that there can be no fuch thing in the
world as the rebellion of a nation againft its own
magiftrates, and that rebellion is not always evil.
That this may appear, it will not be amifs to confider

the

Sea 36. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 301

the word, as well as the thing underftood by it as it
is ufed in an evil fenfe.

The word is taken from the latin rebellare^ which
fienifies no rraore than to renew a war. When a
town or province had been fubdued by the Romans,
and brought under their dominion, if they violated
their faith after the fettlement of peace, and invaded
their mailers who had fpared them, they were faid
to rebel. But it had been more abfurd to apply that
word to the people that rofe up againft the decem-
viri, kings or other magiftrates, than to the Parthians
or any of thofe nations who had no dependance up-
on them ; for all the circumftances that fliould make
a rebellion were wanting, the word implying a
fuperiority in them againft whom it is, as well as the
breach of an eftablifh'd peace. But tho' every private
man lingly taken be fubjed: to the commands of the
magiftrate, the whole body of the people is not fo ;
for he is by and for the people, and the people is
neither by nor for him. The obedience due to him
from private men is grounded upon, and meafured
by the general law ; and that law regarding the
welfare of the people, cannot fet up the intereft of
one or a few men againft the public. The whole
body therefore of a nation cannot be tied to any other
obedience than this confiftent with the common good,
according to their own judgment : and having never
been fubdued or brought to terms of peace with their
magiftrates, they cannot be faid to revolt or rebel
againft them, to whom they owe no more than
feems good to themfclves, and who are nothing of
or by themfelves, more than other men.

Again, the thing iignified by rebeUionis not always
evil ; fortho' every fubdued nation muft acknowledge
a fuperiority in thofe who have fubdued them, and
jrebellion do imply a breach of the peace, yet that

fuperiority

302 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

fuperiority is not infinite ; the peace may be broken
upon juft grounds, and it may be neither a crime nor
infamy to do it. Tlie Privernates had been more
than once fabdued by the Romans'^, and had as often
rebelled. Their city was at laft taken by Plautius
the conful, after their leader Vitruvius and great
numbers of their fenate and people had been kiiPd :
being reduced to alow condition, they fen t ambaf-
fadors to Rome to defire peace ^ where when a fe-
nator allced them what punifhment they deferved,
one of them anfwered, '' The fame which they
" deferve who think themfelves worthy of liberty/'
The conful then demanded, '' what kind of peace
" might be expeded from them, if the punifliment
" fliould be remitted :" The ambaffador anfwer'd,
" "f If the terms you give be good, the peace will
" be obferved by us faithfully and perpetually ; if
" bad, it will foon be broken." And tho' fome
were offended with the ferocity of the anfwer -, yet
the beft part of the fenate approved it as " J worthy
*' of a man and a freeman;" and confeffing that no
man or nation would continue under an uneafy con-
dition longer than they were compell'd by force,
faid, " jl they only were fit to be made Romans,
*' who thought nothing valuable but liberty." Up-
on which they were all made citizens of Rome, and i
obtained whatfoever they had deiTred.

I know not how this matter can be carried to a
greater height , for if it were poffible, that a people
refifting oppreffion, and vindicating their own liber-
ty, could commit a crime, and incur either guilt
or infamy, the Privernates did, who had been often

* T. Liv. 1. S. ^

•f Si bonam dederitis, fidam & perpetuam ; fi malam, haud diutur-
nam. Liv.

X Viri & liberi vocem audltam. UiJ.

II Eos demum, qui nihil praiterquam de libertate cogitant, dignos
effe, qui Romani fiant. UU.

fub-

Sea. 36. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 303

fubdued, and often pardoned ; but even in the judg-
ment of their conquerors whom they had offended,
the refolution they profelTed of rtanding to no agree-
ment impofed upon them by neceffity, was account-
ed the higheft teftimony of fuch a virtue as rendred
them worthy to be admitted into a fociety and equa-
lity with themfelves, who were the moll brave and
virtuous people of the world.

But if the patience of a conquered people may have
limits, and they who will not bear oppreffion from
thofe who had fpared their lives, may deferve praife
and reward from their conquerors, it would be
madnefs to think, that any nation can be obliged to
bear whatfoever their own magiftrates think fit to
do againft them. This may feem ftrange to thofe
who talk fo much of conquefts made by kings ;
immunities, liberties and privileges granted to nati-
ons ', oaths of allegiance taken, and wonderful bene-
fits conferred upon them. But having already faid
as much as is needful concerning conquefts, and
that the miagiflrate who has nothing except what
is given to him, can only difpenfe out of the pub-
lick flock fuch franchifes and privileges as he has
received for the reward of fervices done to the coun-
try, and encouragement of virtue, I ihall at prefent
keep my felf to the two laft points.

Allegiance fignifies no more (as the words ^^
legem declare) than fuch an obedience as the law
requires. But as the law can require nothing from
the whole people, who are mafters of it, allegiance
can only relate to particulars, and not to the whole.
No oath can bind any other than thofe who take it,
and that only in the true fenfe and meaning of it :
but fingle men only take this oath, and therefore
fingle men are only obliged to keep it : the body of
a people neither does, nor can perform any fuch adl :

agreements

304 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

agreements and contracSs have been made ; as the
tribe of Judah, and the reft of Ifrael afterward, made
a covenant with David, upon which they made him
king; but no wife man can think, that the nation
did thereby make themfelves the creature of their
own creature.

The fenfe alfo of an oath ought to be confidered.
No man can by an oath be obliged to any thing be-
yond, or contrary to the true meaning of it : private
men who fwear obedience ad legem, fwear no obe-
dience extra or contra legem : whatfoever they
promife or fwear, can detradt nothing from the pub-
lic liberty, which the law principally intends to
preferve. Tho' many of them may be obliged in
their feveral ftations and capacities to render peculiar
fervices to a prince, the people continue as free as
the internal thoughts of a man, and cannot but have
a right to preferve their liberty, or avenge the vio-
lation.

If matters are well examined, perhaps not many
magiftrates can pretend to much upon the title of
merit, moft efpecially if they or their progenitors
have continued long in office. The conveniences
annexed to the exercife of the fovereign power, may
be thought fufficient to pay fuch fcores as they grow
due, even to the beft : and as things of that nature
are handled, I think it will hardly be found, that all
princes can pretend to an irreiiftible power upon the
account of beneficence to their people. When the
family ofMedices came to be mailers of Tufcany,
that country was without difpute, in men, money
and arms, one of the moft flourifliing provinces in
the world, as appears by Machiavel's account, and
the relation of what happened between Charles the
eighth and the magiftrates of Florence, which I
have mentioned already from Guicciardin. Now

who-

Sea. 36. CONCERiSFING GOVERNMENT. 305

whoever fhall confider the ftrength of that country
in thofe days, together with w^hat it might have
been in the fpace of a hundred and forty years, in
which they have had no war, nor any other plague,
than the extortion, fraud, rapine and cruelty of
their princes, and compare it with their prefent de-
folate, wretched and contemptible condition, rnay,
if he pleafe, think that much veneration is due to
the princes that govern them, but will never make
any man believe that their title can be grounded upon
beneficence. The like may be faid of the duke of
Savoy, who pretending (upon I know not what
account) that every peafant in the Dutchy ought to
pay him two crowns every half year, did in 1662
fubtilly find out, that in every year there were thir-
teen halves ; ib that a poor man who had nothing
but what he gained by hard labour, was through
his fatherly care and beneficence, forced to pay fix
and twenty crowns to his royal highnefs, to be em-
ployed in his difcreet and virtuous pleafures at Turin.
The condition of the feventeen provinces of the
Netherlands (and even of Spain it felf) when they
fell to the houfe of Aufl:ria, was of the fame nature :
and I will confefs as much as can be required, if
any other marks of their government do remain,
than fuch as are manifeft evidences of their pride,
avarice, luxury and cruelty.

France in outward appearance makes a better
fhow ; but nothing in this world is more miferable,
than that people under the fatherly care of their tri-
umphant monarch. The beft of their condition is
like aflis and mafl:iff-dogs, to work and fight, to
be opprefl^ed and kill'd for him ; and thofe among
them who have any underftanding well know, that
their induftry, courage, and good fuccefs, is not
only unprofitable, but defirudlive to them ; and that
Vol. II. X by

^,o5 DISCOURSES Chap. IH.

by increafing the power of their mafter, they add
weight to their own chains. And if any prince, gr
fucceffion of princes, have made a more modeft ufe
of their power, or more faithfully difeharged the
truft repofed in them, it muft be imputed peculiar-
ly to them, as a teftimony of their perfonal virtue,
and can have no eifed: upon others.

The rights therefore of kings are not grounded
upon conqueft > the liberties of nations do not arife
from the grants of their princes ; the oath of alle-
giance binds no private man to more than the law
direds, and has no influence upon the whole body
of every nation : many princes are known to their
fubjefts only by the injuries, loffes and mifchiefs
brought upon them -, fuch as are good and juft,
ought to be rewarded for their perfonal virtue, but
can confer no right upon thofe who no way refemble
them ; and whoever pretends to that merit, muft
prove it by his adtions : rebellion being nothing but
a renewed war, can never be againft a government
that was not eftablilhed by war, and of it felf isnei-
ther good nor evil, more than any other war ; but
is jufl or unjuil according to the caufe or manner of
it, Beiides, that rebellion which by Samuel * is
compared to witchcraft, is not of private men, era
people againft the prince, but of the prince againft
God : The Ifraelites are often faid to have rebelled
againft the law, word, or command of God 5 but
tho' they frequently oppofed their kings, I do not
find rebellion imputed to them on that account, nor
any ill character put upon fuch adlions. We are
told alfoof fome kings who had been fubdued, and
afterwards rebelled againft Chedorlaomer and other
kings ', but their caufe is not blamed, and we have
fome reafon to believe it good, becaufe Abraham

* I Sam- .\v. 23.

4 took

Sea. 36. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 307

took part with thofe who had rebelled. However
it can be of no prejudice to the caufe I defend ; for
the' it were true, that thofe fubdued kings could not
juftly rife againft the perfon who had fubdued them ;
or that generally no king being once vanquifhed,
could have a right of rebellion againft his conqueror,
it could have no relation to the actions of a people
vindicating their own laws and liberties againft a
prince who violates them 5 for that war which ne-
ver was, can never be renewed. And if it be true
in any cafe, that hands and fwords are given to men,
that they only may be ilaves who have no courage,
it muft be when liberty is overthrown by thofe, who
of all men ought with the utmoft induftry and vi-
gour to have defended it. -

That this fhould be known, is not only neceiTary
for the fafety of nations, but advantageous to fuch
kings as are wife and good. They who know the
frail y of human nature, will always diftruft their
own ; and defiring only to do what they ought,
will be glad to be reftrain'd from that which they
ought not to do. Being taught by reafon and ex-
perience, that nations delight in the peace and juftice
of a good government, they w^ill never fear a gene-
ral infurred:ion, whilft they take care it be rightly
adminiftred 3 and finding themfelves by this means
to be fafe, will never be unwilling, that their chil-
dren or fucceflbrs ftiould be obliged to tread in the
fame fteps.

If it be fald that this may fometimes caufe dif-
orders, I acknowledge it ; but no human condition
being perfed:, fuch a one is to be chofen, which
carries with it the moft tolerable inconveniencies :
and it being much better that the irregularities and
exceffes of a prince fhould be reftrained or fuppreffed,
than that whole nations fhould perifh by them, thofe

X 2 ' conftitu-

308 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

conftltutions that make the beft provifion againft the
greateft evils, are moft to be commended. If go-
vernments were inftituted to gratify the luftsofone
man, thofe could not be good that fet Hmits to them;
but all reafonable men confeffing that they are infti-
tuted for the good of nations, they only can deferve
praife, who above all things endeavour to procure it,
and appoint means proportioned to that end. The
great variety of governments vv^hich we fee in the
world, is nothing but the effe<5l of this care 3 and
all nations have been, and are more or lefs happy,
as they or their anceftors have had vigour of fpirit,
integrity of manners, aod wifdom to invent and
eftablifh fuch orders, as have better or worfe pro-
vided for this common good, which was fought by
all. But as no rule can be fo exadt, to make pro-
vifion againft all conteftations ; and all difputes about
right do naturally end in force whenjuftice is denied
(ill men never wiUingly fubmitting to any decifion
that is contrary to their paflions and interefts) the
beft conftitutions are of no value, if there be not a
power tofupport them. This power firft exerts it
felf in the execution of juftice by the ordinary offi-
cers : but no nation having been fo happy, as not
fometimes to produce fuch princes as Edward and
Richard the feconds, and fuch minifters as Gavef-
ton, Spencer, and Trefilian, the ordinary officers of
iuftice often v/ant the will, and always the power
to reftrain them. So that the rights and liberties of
a nation muft be utterly fubverted and aboliftied, if
the power of the whole may not be employed to
aflert them, or punifli the violation of them. But
as it is the fundamental right of every nation to be
governed by fuch laws, in fuch manner, and by
luchperfonsas they think moft conducing to their

own

Sea, 37. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 309

own good, they cannot be accountable to any but
themfelves for what they do in that moft important
aiFair.

SECT. XXXVII.

The Englijlj government was not ill conjlituted^
the defe5ls more lately obferved proceeding from
the change of manners^ and corruption of the
times,

I AM not Ignorant that many honeft and good
men acknowledging thefe rights, and the care of
our anceftors to preferve them, think they wanted
wifdom rightly to proportionate the means to the
end. 'Tis not enough, fay they, for the general of
an army to defire victory ; he only can deferve praife,
who has {kill, induftry, and courage to take the
beft meafures of obtaining it. Neither is it enough
for wife legiflators to preferve liberty, and to eredt
fuch a government as may ftand for a time 5 but to
fet fuch clear rules to thofe who are to put it in
execution, that every man may know when they
tranfgrefs ; and appoint fuch means for retraining
or punifhing them, as may be ufed fpeedily, furely,
and eifedlually, without danger to the public. Sparta
being thus conftituted, we hardly find that, for more
than eight hundred years, any king prefumed to pafs
the limits prefcribed by the law. If any Roman
conful grew infolent, he might be reduced to order
without blood, or danger to the public ; and no
dictator ever ufurped a power over liberty till the
time of Sylla, when all things in the city were fo
changed, that the antient foundations were become
too narrow. In Venice the power of the duke is fo
circumfcribed, that in one thoufand three hundred
years, no one, except Falerio and Tiepoli, have dared

X 3 to

3IO DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

to attempt any thing againftthe laws: and they were
immediately fuppreffed with litttle commotion in the
city. On the other fide, our law is fo ambiguous,
perplext and intricate, that 'tis hard to know when
'tis broken. In all the public contefts we have had,
men of good judgment and integrity have followed
both parties, The means of tranfgreffing and pro-.
curing partizans to make good by force the moft
notorious violations of liberty, have been fo eafy,
that no prince who has endeavoured it, ever failed
to get great numbers of followers, and to do infinite
mifchiefs before he could be removed. The nation
has been brought to fight againft thofe they had made
to be what they were, upon the unequal terms of
hazarding all againft nothing. If they had fuccefs,
they gained no more than was there own before,
and which the law ought to have fecured : whereas
'tis evident, that if at any one time the contrary had
happened, the nation had been utterly enflaved^ and
no vidlory was ever gained without the lofs of much
noble and innocent blood.

To this I anfwer, that no right judgment can be
given of human things, without a particular regard
to the tim.e in v^^hich they pafTed. We efteem Scipio,
Hannibal J Pyrrhus, Alexander, Epaminondas and
Caefar, to have been admirable commanders in war, '
becaufe they had in a moft eminent degree all the
qualities that could make them fo, and knev/ beft
how to em. ploy the arms then in ufe according to
the difcipline of their times; and yet no man doubts,
that if the moft fkilful of them could be raifed from
the grave, reftored to the utmoft vigour of mind and
body, fet at the head of the beft armies he ever com-
manded, and placed upon the frontiers of France or
Flanders, he would not know how to advance or
retreat, nor by v/hat m.eans to take any of the

places

Sea. 21' CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 311

Places in thofe parts, as they are now fortified and
defended -, but would moft certainly be beaten by
any infignificant fellow with a fmall number of men,
furniflied with fuch arms as are now in ufe, and
following the methods now pradbifed. Nay, the
manner of m^trching, encamping, befieging, attack-
ing, defending and fighting, isfo much altered within
the lall threefcore years, that no man obferving the
difcipline that was then thought to be the befl:, could
poflibly defend himfelf againft that which has been
fince found out, tho' the terms are flill the fame.
And if it be confider'd that political matters are fub-
je6t to the fame mutations (as certainly they are) it
will be futficient to excufe our anceftors, who fuiting
their government to the ages in which they lived,
could neither forefee the changes that might happen
in future generations, nor appoint remedies for the
mifchicfs they did not forefee.

They knew that the kings of feveral nations had
been kept within the limits of the law, by the virtue
and power of a great and brave nobility; and that no
other way of fupporting a mix'd monarchy had ever
been known in the world, than by putting the
balance into the hands of thofe who had the greateft
interefl: in nations, and who by birth and eftate
enjoy'd greater advantages than kings could confer
upon them for rewards of betraying their country. .
They knew that when the nobility was fo great as
not eafily to be number'd, the little that was left to
the king s difpofal, was not fufficient to corrupt many^
and if fome mJght fall under the tem.ptation, thofe
who continuea in their integrity^ would eafily be
able to chaftife them for deferting the public caufe,
and by that means deter kings from endeavouring to
feduce them from their duty, Whilft things conti-
nued in this pofture, kings might fafely be truded

X 4 (with

512 DISCOURSES Chap. HI.

(with the advice of their council) to confer the
commands of the militia in towns and provinces upon
the moft eminent men in them: and whilft thofe kings
were exercifed in almoft perpetual wars, and placed
their glory inthegreatnefsof the aftions theyatchieved
by the power and valour of their people, it was their
interelT: always to choofe fuch as feemed beft to de-
ferve that honour. It was not to be imagined that
through the weaknefs of fome, and malice of others,
thofe dignities fhould by degrees be turned into empty
titles, and become the rewards of the greateft crimes,
and the vileft fervices -, or that the nobleft of their
defcendants for want of them, fhould be brought
under the name of commoners, and deprived of all
privileges except fuch as were common to them
with their grooms. Such a ftupendous change being
in procefs of time infenfibly introduced, the founda-
tions of that government which they had eftablifhed,
were removed, and the fuperftrudure overthrown.
The balance by which it fubfifted was broken ; and
'tis as impoffible to reftore it, as for moft of thofe
w^ho at this day go under the name of noblemen,
to perform the duties required fi'om the antient
nobility of England. And tho' there were a charm
in the name, and thofe who have it, il^ould be
immediately filled with a fpirit like to that which
animated our anceftors, and endeavour to deferve
the honours they poffefs, by fuch fervices to the
country as they ought to have performed before
they had them, they would not be able to accomplifli
it. They have neither the intereft nor the eftates
required for fo great a work. Thofe w^ho have
eftates at a rack rent, have no dependants. Their
tenants, when they have paid what is agreed, owe
them nothing; and knowing they lliall be turned out
of their tenements, as foon as any other will give

a,

Sea. 37- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 313

a little more, they look upon their lords as men who
receive more from them than they confer upon them.
This dependance being loft, the lords have only
more money to fpend or lay up than others, but no
command of men ; and can therefore neither pro-
ted: the weak, nor curb the infolent. By this means
all things have been brought into the hands of the
king and the commoners, and there is nothing left to
cement them, and to maintain the union. The
perpetual jarrings we hear every day ; the divifion of
the nation into fuch faftions as threaten us with
ruin, and all the diforders that we fee or fear, are the
effefe of this rupture. Thefe things are not to be
imputed to our original conftitutions, but to thofe
v/ho have fubverted them : and if they who by
corrupting, changing, enervating and annihilating
the nobility, which was the principal fupport of the
antient regular monarchy, have driven thofe who
are truly noblemen into the fame intereft and name-
with the commons, and by that means increafed a
party which never was, and I think never can be
united to the court, they are to anfwer for the con-
fequences j and if they perifli, their deftrudlion is
from themfelves.

The inconveniencies therefore proceed not from
the inftitution, but from the innovation. The
law was plain, but it has been induftrioufly rendred
perplex : they who were to have upheld it are over-
thrown. That v/hich might have been eafily per-
formed when the people was armed, and had a great,
ftrong. virtuous and pov/erful nobility to lead them,
is made difficult, now they are difarmed, and that
nobility abolifhed. Our anceftors may evidently
appes-r, not only to have intended v/ell, but to have
taken a right courfe to accomplifli what they
intended. This had efteit as long as the caufe con-
tinued ;

3X4 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

tinued ; and the only fault that can be afcribed to
that which they eftabliihed is, that it has not proved
to be perpetual ; which is no more than may be
juftly faid of the beft human conftitutions that ever
have been in the world. If we will be juft to our
anceftors, it will become us in our time rather to
purfue what we know they intended, and by new
conftitutions to repair the breaches made upon the
old, than to accufe them of the defects that will for
ever attend the adions of men. Taking our affairs
at the worft, we fliall foon find, that if we have
the fame fpirit they had, we may eafily reftore our
nation to its antient liberty, dignity and happinefs ;
and if we do not, the fault is owing to our-
felves, and not to any want of virtue and wifdom
in them.

SECT. XXXVIII.

^be power of calling and dijfolving parliaments h not

Jimply in the king. The variety of cujloni^ in

choojing parliament men^ and the errors a people

may commit ^ neither prove that kings are or ought

to be ahfolute,

TH E original of magiftratical power, the
intention of our anceftors in its creation, and
the ways prefcribed forthe diredion and limitation of
it may, I prefume, fufRcIently appear by what has
been faid. But becaufe our author, taking hold of
every twig, pretends *' that kings may call and
*' diifolve parliaments at their pleafure," and from
thence infers *' the power to be wholly in themj"
alledges " the various cuftoms in feveral parts of this
^' nation ufed in the eledions of parliament men, to
" proceed from the king's will}" and '' becaufe a

y people

■ Se6l. 3S. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 315

'' people may commit errors/* thinks " all power
<' ought to be put into the hands of the king \*

I anfwer, i. That the power of calling and
diffolving parliaments is not fimply in kings. They
may call parliaments, if there be occafion, at times
when the law does not exadl it ; they are placed as
j fentinels, and ought vigilantly to obferve the motions
' of the enemy, and give .notice of his approach : but
if the fentinel fall afleep, negledl his duty, or ma-
licioufly endeavour to betray the city, thofe who are
concern'd may make ufe of all other means to know
their danger, and to preferve themfelves. The ig-
norance, incapacity, negligence or luxury of a king,
is a great calamity to a nation, and his malice is worfe,
but not an irreparable ruin. Remedies may be, and
often have been found againft the worft of their vices.
The lafl French kings of the races of Meroveus and
Pepin brought many mifchiefs upon the kingdom,
but the deflrucftlon was prevented. Edward and
Richard the feconds of England were not unlike
them, and v/e know by what means the nation was
prefer ved. The queftion was not who had the right,
or who ought to call parliaments, but how the com-
monwealth might be faved from ruin. The confuls,
or other chief magiftrates in Rome, had certainly a
right of aflembling and difmifling the fenate : but
when Hannibal was at the gates, or any other
imminent danger threatned them with deftruftion ;
if that niagiflrate had been drunk, mad, or gained
by the enemy, no wi^e man can think that formalities
were to have been obferved. In fuch cafes every man
is a m-agiilrate 3 and he who bell knows the danger,
and the means of preventing it, has a right of calling
the fenate or people to an alTembly. The people
would, and certainly ought to follow him, as they
did Brutus and Valerius againft Tarquin, or Horatius

and

5i6 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

and Valerius agalnft the Decemviri ; and whoever
iliould do otherv^ife, might for fottiflmefs be com-
pared to the courtiers of the two lafl: kings of Spain. •
1 he firft of thefe, by name Phihp the third, being
indifpofed in cold v^eather, a Braziero of coals was
brought into his chamber, and placed fo near him
that he was cruelly fcorched. A nobleman then
prefent faid to one who ftood by him, '^ the king
" burns ;" the other anfwered it was true, but the
page, whofe office it was to bring and remove the
Braziero, was not there ; and before he could be
found his majefly^s legs and face were fo burnt,
that it caus'd an Eryfipelas, of which he died.
Philip the fourth efcap'd not much better, who
being furprized as he was hunting by a violent ftorm
of rain and hail, < nd no man prefuming to lend the
king a cloa ■, he was fo wet before the officer could
be found who carried his ov/n, that he took a
cold, which caft him into a dangerous fever. If
kings like the confequences of fuch a regularity,
they may caufe it to be obferved in their own
families ; but nations looking in the firfl place to
their own fafety, would be guilty of the moft
extreme flupidity, if they fhould fuffer them-
felves to be ruined for adhering to fuch cere-
monies.

This is faid upon a fuppofition, that the whole
power of calling and diilolving paaliaments, is by
tihe law placed in the king : but I utterly deny
that it is fo; and to prove it, Aall give the following
reafons.

(i.) That the king can have no fuch power,
unlefs it be given to him, for every man is origi-
nally free ; and the fame power that makes him
king, gives him all that belongs to his being king.
.'Tis not therefore an inherent, but a delegated power;

and

Sea. 38. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 317

and whoever receives it, is accountable to thofe tliat
gave it J for, as our author is forced to confefs, '" they
" w^ho give authority by commiffion, do always re-
" tain more than they grant."

(2.) The law for annual parliaments exprefly de-
clares it not to be in the king's power, as to the point
of their meeting, nor confequently their continuance.
For they meet to no purpofe if they may not con-
tinue to do the work for which they meet ; and it
were abiurd to give them a power of meeting, if
they might not continue till it be done : for, as
Grotius fays, " qui dat finem, dat media ad finem
" neceflaria/' The only reafon why parliaments do
meet, is to provide for the public good ; and they
by law ought to meet for that end. They ought
not therefore to be diflblved, till it be accom-
■plilhied. For this reafon the opinion given by
Trefilian, that kings might difiblve parliaments at
their pleafure, was judged to be a principal part of his
treafon.

(3.) We have already proved, that Saxons, Danes,
Normans, &c. who had no title to the crown,
were made kings by micklegemots, wittenagemots,
and parliaments ; that is, either by the whole people,
or their reprefentatives : others have been by the
fame authority reftrained, brought to order, or de-
pofed. But as it is impoffible that fuch as were not
kings, and had no title to be kings, could by virtue
of a kingly power call parliaments, when they had
none ; and abfurd to think that fuch as were in the
throne, who had not governed according to law,
would fuffer themfelvesto be reftrain'd, imprifoned,
or depofed by parliaments, called and fitting by them-
felves, and ftill depending upon their will to be or
not to be j 'tis certain that parliaments have in thcm-

fclves

3i8 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

felves a power of fitting and ading for the public
good.

2. To the fecond. The various cuftoms ufed in
cledlions are nothing to this queflion. In the counties,
which make up the body of the nation, all free-
holders have their votes : thefe are properly Gives,
members of the commonv^ealth, in diftinftion from
thofe who are only Incolae, or inhabitants, villains,
and fuch as being under their parents, are not yet
fui juris. Thefe in the beginning of the Saxons
reign in England, compofed the micklegemots ; and
when they grew to be fo numerous that one place
could not contain them, or fo far difperfed, that
without trouble and danger they could not leave their
habitations, they deputed fuch as (hould rcprefent -
them. When the nation came to be more polifhed,
to inhabit cities and towns, and to fet up feveral arts
and trades ; thofe who exercifed them were thought
to be as ufeful to the commonwealth, as the free-
holders in the country, and to deferve the fame
privileges. But it not being reafonable that every
one fliould In this cafe do what he pleafed, it was
thought fit that the king with his council (which
always confifted of the Proceres and Magnates Reg-
ni) fliould judge what numbers of men, and what
places deferved to be made corporations or bodies
politic, and to enjoy thofe privileges, by which he
did not confer upon them any thing that was his,
but according to the truft repofed in him, did dif-
penfe out of the public flock parcels of what he had
received from the whole nation : and whether this
was to be enjoy'd by all the inhabitants, as in Weft-
minfler ; by the common hall, as in London 3 or by
the mayor, aldermen, jurats and corporation, as in
other places, 'tis the fame thing : for in all thefe

cafes the king does only diilribute, not give, and

under

Seft. 3 8 . CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 3 1 9

under the fame condition that he might call parlia-
ments, that is, for the publick good. This indeed
increafes the honour of the perfon intruded, and
adds weight to the obligation incumbent upon him >
but can never change the nature of the thing, fo as
to make that an inherent, which is only a delegated
power. And as parliaments, when occafion re-
quired, have been afiembled, have refus'd to be
diflblved till their work was finifhed, have feverely
punifhed thofe who went about to perfuade kings,
that fuch matters depended abfolutely upon their
will, and made laws to the contrary : 'tis not to be
imagined, that they would not alfo have interpofed
their authority in matters of charters, if it had been
obferved that any king had notorioufly abufed the
truft repofed in him, and turned the power to his
private advantage, with which he was entrufted for
the public good.

That which renders this moft plain and fafc, is,
that men chofen in this manner to ferve in parlia-
ment, do not ad: by themfelves, but in conjunction
with others who are fent thither by prefcription ;
nor by a power derived from kings, but from thofe
that choofe them. If it be true therefore that thofe
who delegate powers, do always retain to themfelves
more than they give, they who fend thefe men, do
not give them an abfolute power of doing whatfo-
ever they pleafe, but retain to themfelves more than
they confer upon their deputies : they muft there-
fore be accountable to their principals, contrary to
what our author afferts. This continues in force,
tho' he knows not, that '' any knights and burgef-
'' fes have ever been queftioned by thofe that fent
*' them ;" for it cannot be concluded they ought
not, or may not be queftion'd, becaufe none have
been queftioned. But in truth they are frequently

queftioned :

320 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

queftloned : the people do perpetually judge of the
behaviour of their deputies. Whenfoever any of
them has the misfortune not to fatisfy the major
part of thofe that chofe him, he is fure to be reject-
ed with difgrace the next time he fhall defire to be
chofen. This is not only a fufficient punifhment
for fach faults, as he who is but one of five hundred
may probably commit, but as much as the greateft
and freeft people of the world did ever inflid: upon
their commanders that brought the greateft loffes
upon thciTi. Appius Claudius, Pomponius, and
Terentius Varro, furvived the greateft defeats that
ever the Romans fufFer*d ; and tho' they had caufed
them by their folly and perverfenefs, were never
punifhed. Yet I think no man doubts that the Ro-
mans had as much right over their own officers, as
the Athenians and Carthaginians, who frequently
put them to death. They thought the mind of a
commander would be too much diftrafted, if at the
fame time he ihould ftand in fear both of the enemy
and his own countrymen : and as they always en-
deavoured to choofe the beft men, they would lay
no other neceffity upon them of performing their
duty, than what was fuggefted by their own virtue
and love to their country. 'Tis not therefore to be
thought ftrange, if the people of England have fol-
lowed the moft generous and moft profperous ex-
amples. Befides, if any thing has been defeftive in
their ufual proceedings with their delegates, the in-
convenience has been repaired by the modefty of the
beft and wifeft of them that v»^ere chofen. Many in
all ages, and fometimes the whole body of the com-
mons, have refufed to give their opinion in fome
cafes, till they had confulted with thofe that fent
them : the houfes have been often adjourned to give
them time to doit y and if this Vvxre done more fre-
quently.

Sefl. sS. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 321

quently, or that the towns, cities and counties, had
on fome occafions given inflrudlions to their depu-
ties, matters would probably have gone better in
parliament than they have often done.

3 . The queflion is not, v/hether the parliament
be impeccable or infallible, but whether an aflembly
of nobiUty, with a houfe of commons compofed of
thofe who are befl efleemed by their neighbours in
all the towns and counties of England, are more or
lefs fubjed: to error or corruption, than fuch a man,
woman or child, as happens to be next in blood to
the laft king. Many men do ufually fee more than
one ; and if we may believe the wifeft king, ' ' In
*' the multitude of counfellors there is fafety **
Such as are of mature age, good experience, and
approved reputation for virtue and wifdom, will
probably judge better than children or fools. Men
are thought to be m.ore fit for war than women ;
and thofe who are bred up in difcipline, to under-
ftand it better than thofe who never knew any thing
of it. If fome counties or cities fail to choofe fuch
men as are eminently capable, all will hardly be fo
miftaken as to chufe thofe who have no more of
wifdom or virtue, than is ufually intail'd upon fa-
milies. But Filmer at a venture admires the pro-
found wifdom of the king ; tho' beiides fuch as we
have known, hiflories give us too many proofs,
that all thofe who have been poiTefTed of crowiis,
have not excelled that way. He fpeaks of kings in
general, and makes no difference between Solomon
and his foolifli fon. He diftinsuiflies not our Ed-
ward the firir from Edward tlie i'econd -, Edward the
third from Richard the fecond -, or Henry the fifth
from Henry the fixth. And becaufe all of them
were kings, all of them, if he deftrves credit, muft

* Prov. xi. 14.

/. Vol. II, Y neecs

32^ DISCOURSES Chap. III.

needs have been endow'd with profound wifdom.
David was wife as an angel of God ; therefore the
prefent kings of France, Spain and Sweden, muft
have been fo alfo, when they were but five years
old: Joan of Caftille could not bemad, nor the two
Joans of Naples infamous ftrumpets, or elfe all his
arp-uments fall to the o-round. For tho' Solomon's
wdfdom furpalTed tliat of all the people, yet men
could not relv equally upon that of Rehoboam, un-
lefs it had been equal. And if they are all equal in
wifdom when they come to be equally kings, Perfes
of Macedon v/as as great a captain as Philip or Alex-
ander ; Commodus and Heliogabalus were as wife
and virtuous as Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus
Pius : nay, Chriftina of Sweden in her infancy was
as fit to command an army as her valiant father. If
this be mofl abfurd and falfe, there can be neither
reafon nor fenfe in propofing, as our author does,
that the power fhould be in the king, becaufe the
parllamient is not infallible. It is, fays he, ** for
the head to correal, and not to exped: the confent
of the members or parties peccant to be judges in
their own cafes ; nor is it needful to confine the
king," &c. Befides that this is dire6lly contrary
to his ovv^n fundamental maxim, that no man muft
be the judge of his own cafe, in as much as this
would put the power into the king's hands, to decide
the controverfies between himfelf and the people,
in which his own pailions, private intereft, and the
corrupt counfels of ill minifters, will always lead
him out of the way of juftice, the inconveniences
that may arife from a poffibilitv that the parliament
or people is not infallible, will be turned to the moft
certain and deftructive mlfchiefs ; as muft have fallen
out in Spain, if, upon a fuppofition that the eftates
of Caftille might err, the corredtlon of fuch errors

had

(C

Sed. 38. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 32?

had been left to the profound wifdom and exquifite
judgment of Joan their queen and head, who was
ftark mad. And the hke may be faid of many-
other princes, who through natural or accidental
infirmities^ want of age, or dotage, have been ut-
terly unable to judge of any thing.

The matter wdll not be much mended, tho' I pafs
from ideots and lunaticks, to fuch as know well
enough how to clothe and feed themfelves, and to
perform the ordinary functions of life 5 and yet have
been as uncapable of giving a right judgment con-
cerning the w^eighty matters of government, as the
weakefl: of children, or the moil: furious of madmen.
Good manners forbid me to enumerate the examples
of this kind, which Europe has produced even in
this age : but I fliould commit a greater fault, if I
did in lilence pafs over the extravagances of thofc,
who being moil wtak in judgment and irregular in
their appetites, have been moft impatient of any re-
ftraint upon their Vv^ill. The brave Gufcavus Adol-
phus, and his nephew Carolus Guftavus, who was
not inferior to him in valour, wifdom, and love to his
people, v/ere content w^ith the power that the laws of
their country gave to them : but Frederick the fourth
of Denmark never refled till hehadoverthrov/n the li-
berty of that nation. Cafmiir by attempting the like
in Poland, loft almoft half of that kingdom ; and fly-
ing from the other, left all to be ravaged by Swedes,
Tartars, and Cofacks. The prefeiit emperor whopaf-
fed his time in fetting longs in mulic with a wretched
Italian eunuch, when he ouelit to have been at the
head of a brave army, raifed to oppofe the Turks in
the year 1664, ^^^^ which under good conducl might
have overthrown the Ottoman empire, as foon as he
was delivered from the fear of that enemy, fell upon
his ov/n fabiecis with fuch crueltv, that they are

Y z novr-

DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

now forced to fly to the Turks for protedlion ; the
proteftants efpecially, who find their condition more
tolerable under thofe profefTed enemies to chrifliani-
ty, than to be expofed to the pride, avarice, perfi-
dioufaefs and violence of the Jefuits by whom he is
governed. And the qualities of the king of Portu-
gal are fo v/ell known, together with the condition
to which he would have brought his kingdom if he
had not been fent to the Tercera's, that 1 need not
fpeak particularly of him.

If kings therefore, by virtue of their office, are
conftituted judges over the body of their people, be-
caufe the people, or parliaments reprefenting them,
are not infallible 5 thofe kings who are children,
fools, difabled by age, or madmen, are fo alfo;
women have the fame right where they are admitted
to the fucceffion ^ thofe men who, tho' of ripe age
and not fuperannuated, nor diredly fools or mad-
men, yet abfolutely uncapable of judging important
affairs, or by their paffions, interefts, vices, or malice
and wickednefs of their minifters, fervants and fa-
vourites, are fet to opprefs and ruin the people, en-
joy the fame privilege -, than which nothing can be
imagined more abfurd and abominable, nor more
diredlly tending to the corruption and deftrudlion of
the nations under them, for whofe good and fafety

our author confeifes they have their power.

\.

SECT. XXXIX.

Thofe kings only are heads of the people^ ^who are good,
wifey and feek to advance no intereji but that of
the puhlick,

THE worft of men feldom arrive to fuch a
degree of impudence, as plainly to propofe
the moft niifchievous follies and enormities. They

who

Sea. 39. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 325

who are enemies to virtue, and fear not God, are
afraid of men, and dare not offer fuch things as the
world will not bear, left by that means they fhould
overthrow their own defigns. All poifon muft be
difguifed, and no man can be perfuaded to eat
arfenic, unlefs it be cover'd with fomething that
appears to be harmlefs. Creufa would have abhorr'd
Medea s prefent, if the peftilent venom had not been
hidden by the exterior luftre of gold and gems.
The garment that deftroy*d Hercules appeared beauti-
ful ; and Eve had neither eaten of the forbidden tree,
nor given the fruit to her huiband, if it had not
feemed to be good and pleafant, and fhe had not
been induced to believe that by eating it they fliould
both be as Gods. The fervants of the devil have
always followed the fame method : their malice is
carried on by fraud, and they have feldom deftroy'd
any, but fuch as they had firft deceived. Truth
can never conduce to mifchief, and is beft difcovered
by plain words 5 but nothing is more ufual with ill
men than to cover their mifchievous defigns w^ith
figurative phrafes. It would be too ridiculous to fay
in plain terms, that all kings without diftindlion are
better able to judge of all matters than any or all
* their people; they muft therefore be called the head,
that thereby they may be inverted with all the
preeminences which in a natural body belong to that
part; and men muft be made to beleve the
analogy between the natural and political body to
be perfed. But the matter muft be better ex-
amined before this mortal poifon feem fit to be
fwallowed,

The word Head is figuratively ufed botli in fcrip-
ture and profane authors in feveral fenfes, in relation
to places or perfons, and always implies fomething
of real or feeming preeminence in point of honour or

Y 3 jurifdidion.

326 D I S C O U R S E S Chap. Ill;

juriiclidion. Thus Damafcus is faid to be the head
of Syria; Samaria of Ephraim, and Ephraim of the
ten tribes : that is, Ephraim was the chief tribe ;
Samaria v/as the chief city of Epliraim, and Da-
mafcus of Syria -, tho' it be certain that Ephraim had
no jurifdiftion over tiie other tribes, nor Samaria
over the other cities of Ephraim, but every one
according to the law had an equal power within itfelf,
or the territories belonging to it; and no privileges
were p^ranted to one above another, except to Jerufa-
lem, in the matter of religion, becaufe the temple was
placed there.

The words alfo head, prince, principal man, or
captain, feem to be equivocal ; and in this fenfe the
lame men are called heads of the tribes, princes
in the houfes of their fathers : and 'tis faid *, that
two hundred heads of the tribe of Reuben were
carried away captive by Tiglath Pilezer, and pro-
portionably in the other tribes ; which were a
ilrange thing, if the word did imply that fupreme,
abiblute and infinite power that our author attributes
to it : and no man of lefs underftanding than he,
can comprehend how there fliould be two hundred
or more fovereign unlimited powers in one tribe,
moft efpecially when 'tis certain that one feries of
kings had for m.any ages reigned over that tribe and
nine more ; and that every one of thofe tribes, as well
as the particular cities, even from their firfl: entrance
into the promifed land, had a full jurifdidion within
itlelf When the Gileadites came to Jephtha -f-, he
fufpedted them, and aiked whether indeed they
intended to make him their head ? they anfwered,
if he would lead them againfl the Ammonites, he
fhould be their head. In the like fenfe when Jul.
Caefar in defpair would have killed himfelf, one of

'* I Chrgn. v. -f J'^tlg, xii,

his

Sea. 39. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 327

his foldiers diffuaded him from that defign, by telling
him, " "* That the fafety of fo many nations that
'^ had made him their head, depending upon his life,
" it would be cruelty in him to take fuch a refolu-
'' tion." But for all that, when this head was
taken off^ the body did Itill fubfil^ : upon which I
obferve many fundamental differences between the
relation of this figurative head (even when the word is
rightly applied) and that of the natural head to their
refpecStive bodies.

The figurative heads may be many^ the natural but
one.

The people makes or creates the figurative
head, the natural is from itfelf, or connate with the
body.

The natural body cannot change or fubfift with-
out the natural head ; but a people may change and
fubiift very w^ell without the artificial. Nay, if it
had been true, that the world had chofen Ccefar,
as it was not (for he was chofen only by a fadious
mercenary army, and the foundeft part fo far oppofed
that elecTiion, that they brought him to think of
killing himfelf) there could have been no truth in
this flattering afiertion, ^^ That the fafety of the
*' the whole depended upon his life:" for the world
could not only fubfifi: without him, bat without any
fuch head, as it had done, before he by the help of
his corrupted foldiery had ufurped the power; vv-hich
alfo fhews that a civil head may be a matter of con-
venience, but not of neceffity. Many nations have
had none ; and if the expreffion be fo far flretched,
as to make it extend to^ the anniial or temporary

* Cum tot ab hac anima populornm vita falufque
Pendeat, & tantns caput hoc fibi fecerit orbis,
Sasvitia eft voluiiTe moxu Lucan.

Y 4 magiflratcs

328 ^DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

magiitrates fet up by the Athenians, Carthaginians,
Romans, and other antient commonwealths, or to
thofe at this day in Venice, Holland, Switzerland,
and other places, it muft be confefs'd that the people
who made, depofed, abrogated, or abolifhed both
the magifirates and magiftracies, had the power of
framing, directing and removing their heads, which
our author will fay is mod abfurd. Yet they
did it without any prejudice to themfelves^ and very
often much to their advantage.

In mentioning thefe vaft and eifential diflferences
between the natural and political head, I no way
iotend to exclude others that may be of equal weight;
but as all figurative exprefTions have their ftrength
only from fimilitude, there can be little or none in
this, which differs in fo many important points, and
can therefore be of no effed:.

However, right proceeds from identity, and not
from fimilitude. The right of a man over me is by
being my father, and not by being like my father.
If I had a brother fo perfectly refembling nle as to
deceive our parents, which has fometimes happened
to tv/ins", it could give him no right to any thing
that is mine. If the powxr therefore of correfting
the parties peccant, which our author attributes to
kings, be grounded upon the name of head, and a
refemblance between the heads of the body politic
and body natural ; if this refemblance be found to
be exceedingly imperfecft, uncertain, or perhaps no
way relating to the m^atter in queftion ^ or tho' it did,
and were abfolutely perfed:, could confer no right ;
the allegation of it is impertinent and abfurd.

This being cleared, 'tis time to examine, what
the office of the head is in a natural body, that we
may learn from thence why that name is fometimes

given

Seel. 39. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 329

given tothofe who are eminent in political bodies, and
to whom it does belong.

Some men account the head to be fo abfolutely
the feat of all the fenfes, as to derive even that of
feeling, which is exercifed in every part, from the
brain : but I think it is not doubted that all the reft
have both their feat and funftion in the head ; and
whatfoever is ufeful or hurtful to a man, is by them
reprefented to the underftanding ; as Ariflotle fays,
*' Nihil eft in intelledlu, quod non fit prius in fenfu/'
This is properly the part of every magiftrate : he is
the fentinel of the public, and is to reprefent what he
difcovers beneficial or hurtful to the fociety 3 which
office belongs not only to the fupreme, but propor-
tionably to the fubordinate. In this fenfc were the
chief men among the If aelites called '' Heads of
" their fathers houfe, choice and mighty men of
^' valour, chief of the princes *.'' And in the fol-
lowing chapter mention is made of " nine hundred
*' and fifty Benjamites, chief men in the houfe of
*^ their fathers." Thefe men exercifed a charitable
care over fuch as were inferior to them in power and
valour, without any fhadow of fovereignty, or
pofiibility that there could be fo many fovereigns :
and fuch as were under their care are faid to be their
brethren; which is not a word of majefty and domi-
nation, but of dearnefs and equality. The name
therefore of head may be given to a fovereign, but
it implies nothing of fovereignty ; and mufl be ex-
ercifed with charity, which always terminates in
the good of others. The head cannot corredl or
chaftife -, the proper work of that part is only to
indicate, and he who takes upon him to do more, is
not the head. A natural body is homogeneous, and
cannot fubfift if it be not fo. We cannot take one
part of a horfe, another of a bear, and put upon

* 1 Chron. vii. 40.

them

330 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

them the head of a lion ; for it would be a monfter,
that would have neither aftion nor life. The head
muft be of the fame nature with the other members
or it cannot fubfift. But the lord or mailer differs
in fpecie from his fervants and Haves, he is not
therefore properly their head.

Belides, the head cannot have a fubliftence w^ith-
out the body, nor any intereft contrary to that of the
body 3 and 'tis impoffible for any thing to be good
for the head, that is hurtful to the body. A prince
therefore, or magiftrate, who fets up an intereft in
himfelf diftin(5l from, or repugnant to that of the
people, renounces the title or quality of their head.
Indeed, Mofes was the head of the Ifraelites 5 for
when God threatned to deftroy that people, and
promifed to make him a great nation, he waved the
particular advantages offered to himfelf, interceded
for them, and procured their pardon. Yet he was
not able to bear the weight of tht government alone,
%ut defired that fome might be appointed to affift
him, Gideon was the head of the fame people, but
he would not reien himfelf, nor fuffer his fons to
reign over them. Samuel was alfo their head > he
took nothing from any man, defrauded none, took
bribes from no man, oppreffed none ; God and the
people were his witneffes : he blamed them for their
rebellion againft God in aiking a king, but v/as no
way concerned for himfelf or his family. David
likewife had a right to that title 3 for he deiired that
God would fpare the people, and turn the effefl: of
his anger againft himfelf, and the houfe of his
father. But Rehoboam was not their head ; for tho'
he acknowledged that his father had laid a heavy
yoke upon them, yet he told them he would add to
the weight ^ and that if his father had chaftifed them

with

Stdi.o^g. CONCERNING GOVERNxMENT. 331

with whips, he would chaftife them with fcorpions.
The head is no burden to the body, and can lay none
upon it 'y the head cannot chaftife any member ;
and he who does fo, be it more or iefs, cannot be
the head. Jeroboam was not the head of the revolt-
ing tribes ; for the head takes care of the members,
and to provide for the fafety of the whole : but he
through fear that the people going to Jerufalem to
worfhip, fliould return to the houfe of David, by
fetting up idols to fecure his own interefts, drew guilt
and deftrudlion upon them. Tho' it fhould be
granted that Auguftus by a gentle ufe of his power,
had in a manner expiated the deteftable villanies
committed in the acquifition, and had truly deferved
to be called the head of the Romans ; yet that title
could no v/ay belong to Caligula, Claudius, Nero
or Viteliius, who neither had the qualities requir'd
in the nead, nor the underftanding or v/ill to perform
the ofF.ce Nay, if I fiiould carry the matter
farther, and acknowledge that Brutus^ Cincinnatus,
Fabius, Camillus, and others, who in the time of their
annual or iliorter m.agiftracies, had by their vigilance,
virtue and care to preferve the city in fafety, and to
provide for the public good, pcriorm.ed the office
of the head, and might deferve the name ; I
might juftly deny it to the greateil princes that have
been in the world, who having their power for life,
and leaving it to defcend to their children, have
wanted the virtues requir'd. for the performance of
their duty : and I fhould Iefs fear to be guilty of an
abfurdity in faying, that a nation might every year
chan2;e its head, than that he can be the head, who
cares not for the members, nor underftands the things
that conduce to their good, moft efpecially if he fet
up an intereft in himfelf againft them. It cannot
be faid that thefe are imaginary cafeS;, and that no

prince

332 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

prince does thefe things ; for the proof is too eafy>
and the examples too numerous. Caligula could not
have wifhed the Romans but one head, that he
might cut it off at once, if he had been that head,
and had advanced no intereft contrary to that of the
members. Nero had not burn'd the city of Rome,
if his concernments had been infeparably united to
thofe of the people. He who caufed above three
hundred thoufand of his innocent unarmed fubjefls
to be murder'd, and fiird his whole kingdom with
fire and blood, did fet up a perfonal intereft repug-
nant to that of the nation ; and no better teftimony
can be required to fliew that he did fo, than a letter
written by his fon, to take off the penalty due to one
of the chief minifters of thofe cruelties, for this rea-
fon, that what he had done, was " by the command
" and for the fervice of his royal father." King
John did not purfue the advantage of his people,
when he endeavoured to fubjecl them to the Pope or
the Moors. And whatever prince feeks affiftance
from foreign powers, or makes leagues with any
ftranger or enemy for his own advantage againft
his people, however fecret the treaty may be, de-
clares himfelf not to be the head, but an enemy to
them. The head cannot ftand in need of an ex-
terior help againft the body, nor fubfift when divided
from it. He therefore that courts fuch an affiftance,
divides himfelf from the body; and if he do fub-
fift, it muft be by a life he has in himfelf, dif-
tindl from that of the body, which the head cannot
have.

But befides thefe enor»iities, that teftify the moft
wicked rage and fury in the higheft degree, there is
another pradtice, which no man that knows the
world can deny to be common with princes, and
incompatible with the nature of a head, The head

cannqt

Sea. 39. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 333

cannot defire to draw all the nourifhment of the body
to itfelf, nor more than a due proportion. If the
reft of the parts are fick, weak or cold, the head
fufFers equally with them, and if they perifli muft
perifh alfo. Let this be compared with the adlions
of many princes we know, and we fhall foon fee
which of them are heads of their people. If the
gold brought from the Indies has been equally diftri-
buted by the kings of Spain to the body of that
nation, I confent they may be called the heads. If
the kings of Franceaflumenomoreof therichesof that
great kingdom than their due proportion, let them
alfo wear that honourable name. But if the naked
backs and empty bellies of their miferable fubjeds
evince the contrary, it can by no means belong to
them. If thofe great nations w^afte and languifli ;
if nothing be fo common in the beft provinces be-
longing to them, as mifery, famine, and all the
effed:s of the moft outragious opprefiion, whilft
their princes and favourites poffefs fuch treafures as
the moft wanton prodigality cannot exhauft ; if that
which is gained by the fweat of fo many millions of
men, be torn out of the mouths of their ftarving
wives and children, to foment the vices of thofe
luxurious courts, or reward the minifters of their
lufts, the nourifliment is not diftributed equally to
all the parts of the body ; the oeconomy of the
whole is overthrown, and they who do thefe things,
cannot be the heads, nor the parts of the body,
but fomething diftin(ft from and repugnant to it.
'Tis not therefore he who is found in, or advanced
to the place of the head, who is truly the head :
'tis not he who ought, but he who does perform the
office of the head, that deferves the name and pri-
vileges belonging to the head. If our author there-
fore will perfuade us that any king is head of his

people.

334 DISCOURSES Chap. Iir.

people, he mufl do it by arguments peculiarly
relating to him, fince thofe in general are found to
be falfe. If he fay that the king as king may diredl
or corred: the people, and that the power of deter-
mining all controverfies muft be referred to him,
becaufe they may be miftaken, he muft lliow that
the king is infallible ; for unlefs he do fo, the wound
is not cured. This alfo muft be by fome other way,
than by faying he is their head ^ for fuch powers
belong not to the office of the head, and we fee that
all kings do not deferve that name : many of them
want both undtrftanding and will to perform the
functions of the head ; and many adl diredly con-
trary in the whole courfe of their government. If
any therefore among them have merited the glorious
name of heads of nations, it muft have been by their
perfonal virtues, by a vigilant care of the good of
their people, by an infeparable conjunction of inte-
refts with them, by an ardent love to every member
of the fociety, by a moderation of fpirit affecting no
undue fuperiority, or afTuming any fingular advantage
which they are not willing to communicate to every
part of the political body. He who finds this
merit in himfelf, will fcorn all the advantages that
can be drawn from mifapplied names: he that
knows fuch honour to be peculiarly due to him for
being the beft of kings, will never glory in that
which may be common to him with the worft.
Nay, whoever pretends by fuch general difcourfes as
thefe of our author, to advance the particular interefls
of any one king, does either know he is of no
merit, and that nothing can be faid for him which
will not as well agree Vv^ith the worft of men ; or
cares not what he favs io he mav do mifchief and is
well enough contented, that he v/ho is fet up by

fuch

Sea:.4o- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 335

fuch maxims as a public plague, may fall in the
ruin he brings upon the people.

SECT. XL.

Good laws prefcribe eafy and fafe remedies agai?2/i the
evih proceeding jrom the vices or iiifinnities of the
magijirate-, and when thejfail^ they mnjl be fup^
plied.

THOSE who defire to advance the power of
the magiftrate above the law, • would per-
fuade us, that the difficulties and dangers of inquir-
ing into his adions, or oppofing his will when em-
ployed in violence and injuftics, are fo great, that the
remedy is always worfe than the difeafe ; and that
'tis better to fuffer all the evils that may proceed ii om
his infirmities and vices, than to hazard the confe-
quences of difpleafing him. But, on the contrary, I
think and hope to prove,

1. That in well-confl:ituted governments, the
remedies agalnft ill magiftrates are eaiy and fafe.

2. That 'tis good, as well for the magiftrate as
the people, fo to conftitute the government, that
the remedies may be eafy and fafe.

3. That how dangerous and difficult foever they
may be through the defedts of the firft conftitution^
they muft be tried.

To the firft; 'tis moft evident that in well-regu-
lated governments thefe remedies have been found
to be eafy and fafe. The kings of Sparta were not
fuffered in the leaft to deviate from the rule of the
law: and Theopompus one of thofe kings, in
whofe time the Ephori were created, and the regal
power much reftrained, doubted not to affirm, that
it was by that means become more lafting and more
fecure^. Paufanias had not the name of kine, but

* Platarch.

commanded

33$ DISCOURSES Chap. III.

commanded in the war agalnft Xerxes with more
than regal power ; neverthelefs being grown infolent,
he was without any trouble to that flate baniflied,
and afterwards put to death. Leontidas father of
Cleomenes, was in the like manner banifhed. The
fecond Agis was moft unjuflly put to death by the
Ephori, for he was a brave and a good prince, but
there was neither danger nor difficulty in the adtion.
Many of the Roman magiflrates, after the expulfion
of the kings, feem to have been defirous to extend
their power beyond the bounds of the law 5 and
perhaps fome others as well as the Decemviri, may
have deiigned an abfolute tyranny ; but the firft
were reftrained, and the others without much diffi-
culty fupprefled. Nay, even the kings were fo well
kept in order, that no man ever pretended to the
crown unlefs he were chofen, nor made any other
ufe of his power than the law permitted, except the
lafb Tarquin, who by his infolence, avarice and
cruelty, brought ruin upon himfelf and his family,
I have already mentioned one or two dukes of Ve-
nice who were not lefs ambitious, but their crimes
returned upon their own heads, and they periflied
without any other danger to the flate than what had
paifed before their treafons were difcovered. Infi-
nite examples of the like nature may be alledged ;
and if matters have not at all times, and in all places,
fucceeded in the fame manner, it has been becaufe
the iame courfes were not every where taken ; for
all things do fo far follow their caufes, that being
ordered in the fame manner, they will always pro-
duce the fame efFefts.

2. To the fecond; fuch a regulation of the ma-
glftratical power is not at all grievous to a good ma-
giflrate. He who never defires to do any thing but
what he ought, cannot deiire a power of doing

a what

Sea. 40. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. ^37

what he ought not, nor be troubled to find he can-
not do that which he would not do if he could.
This inability is alio advantageous to thofe who are
evil or unwife -, that fincc they cannot govern them-
felves, a law may be impofcd upon them, left by
following their own irregular will, they bring de-
ftrudion upon themfelves, their families and people,
as many have done. If Apollo in the fable had
not been too indulgent to Phaeton., in grantinp^ his
ill-conceived requeft, the furious youth had not
brought a neceflicy upon Jupiter, either of deftroy-
ing him, or fuffering the world to be deftroyed by
him.

Befides, good and wife men know the weight of
fovereign power, and milHoubt their own ftrength.
Sacred and human hi'ories furnifli us with many
examples of thofe who have feared the luftre of a
crown. Men that find in themfelves no delight in
doing mifchief, know not what thoughts may in-
finuate into their minds, when they are raifed too
much above their fphere. They who were able to bear
adverfity, have been precipitated into ruin by profpe-
rity* When the prophet told Hazael the vilianies
he would commit, he anfwcred, " Is thy fcrvant a
*^ dog, that I (hould do thefe things?" but yet he
did them. I know not vi^here to find an example
'of a man more excellently quaufied than Alexander
of Macedon ; but he fell uiider the weirfit of his
own fortune, and grew to exceed thole in vices
whom he had conquered by his virtue. The nature of
man can hardly iuffer fuch violent changes without
being difordered by them ; and every one ought to
enter into a juft diffidence of himfelf, and fear the
temptations that have deftroyed fo many. }f any
man be fo happily born, fo carefilly educated, fo
eftablifl:Led in virtue, that no ftoru; can ihake him.

Vol. IL . Z nor

338 DISCOURSES Chap. IH

nor any poiibn corrupt him, yet he will confider he
is mortal ; and knowing no more than Solomon,
whether his fon fliall be a wife man or a fool, he
will always fear to take upon him a power, which
muft prove a moft peflilent evil both to the perfon
that has it, and to thofe that are under it, as foon
as it ihall fall into the hands of one, who either
knows not how to ufe it, or may be eafily drawn
to abufe it. Suprem^e magiflrates always walk in
obfcure and llippery places : but w4ien they are ad-
vanced fo high, that no one is near enough to fup-
port, direct or reftrain them, their fall is inevitable
and mortal. And thofe nations that have wanted
the prudence rightly to balance the powers of their
magiftrates, have been frequently obliged to have
recourfe to the iriofl violent remedies, and with
much difficulty, danger and blood, to punifh the
crimes which they might have prevented. On the
other fide, fuch as have been more wife in the con-
flitution of their governments, have always had re-
gard to the frailty of human nature, and the cor-
ruption reigning in the hearts of men ; and being
lefs liberal of the power over their lives and liberties,
have referved to themfelves fo much as might keep
their magiftrates v/ithin the limits of the law, and
oblige them to perform the ends of their inflitution.
And as the law which denounces fevere penalties
for crimes, is indeed merciful both to ill men, v/ho
are by that means deterred from committing them y
and to tlie good, vvho otherwife would be deftroyed:
fo thofe nations that have kept the reins in their
hands, have by the fame adl provided as well for
the fafety of their princes as for their own. They
v/ho kiiov/ the law is well defended, feldom at-
tempt to ilibvert it : they are not eafily tempted to
:un into exceifes^ v/lien fuch bounds are fet, as may

not

■I"; •

Sea. 40. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 339

not fafely be tranfgrelied ; and whilft they are by this
means rendered more moderate in the exercife of
their power, the people is exempted from the odious
necefiity of fuffering all manner of indignities and
miferies, or by their deflrudlion to prevent or avenge
them.

3. To the third: if tliefe rules have not been
well obferved in the firft conftitution, or from the
changes of times, corruption of manners, infenfible
encroachments, or violent ufurpations of princes,
have been rendered ineffedlual, and the people ex-
pofed to all the calamities that may be brought upon
them by the weaknefs, vices and malice of the prince
or thole who govern him, I confefs the remedies
are more difficult and dangerous ; but even in thofe
cafes they muft be tried. Nothing can be feared
that is worfe than what is fuitered, or muft in a
iliort time fall upon thofe vv^ho are in this condition.
They who are already fallen into all that is odious/
fhameful and miiferable, cannot juftly fear. When
things are brought to fuch a pafs, the boldeft coun-
fels are the mioft fafe -, and if they muft *^ perifli
who lie ftill, and they can but periih who are m.oft
adtive, the choice is eafily made. Let the danger
be never fo great, there is a poffibility of fafety whilft
men have life, hands, arm.s, and courage to ufe them :
but that people muft certainly perifli, who tamely
fuffer themfelves to be opprefTed, either by the in-.
juftice, cruelty and m.alice of an ill magiftrate, or by
thofe who prevail upon the vices and innrm.ities of
weak princes. "Tis in vain to fay, that this may give
occaiion to men of raifing tumults or civil war^ for
tho* thefe are evils, yet they are not the greateft of

*. Moriendum viclis, moriendum dcc'icis: id fo.Uim intcreil, an in-
ter cri'.'iatas & ludibria, an pro virtute expircmus. C^ Tcici:.

Quod fi nocen'.esinnocentcique id^^m ex 11115 mant^a:, acrioris viri eft

Jiien 6 perire. Ibid.

Z z evils.

340 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

evils. Civil war in Macchiavel's account is a difeafe,
but tyranny is the death of a ftate. Gentle ways
are firft to be ufed, and 'tis beft if the work can
be done by them -, but it muft not be left undone
if they fail. 'Tis good to ufe fupplications, ad-
vices and remonftrances ; but thofe who have no
regard to juftice, and will not hearken to counfel,
muft be conflrained. 'Tis folly to deal othenvife
with a man who will not be guided by reafon, and
a magiftrate who defpifes the law : or rather, to think
him a man, who re] efts the eflential principle of a
man > or to account him a magiflrate who over-
throws the law by which he is a magiflrate. This
is the laft refult ; but thofe nations muft come to it,
which cannot other wife be preferved. Nero's mad-
nefs was not to be cured, nor the mifchievous effefts
of it any other wife to be fupprefTed than by his death.
He who had fpared fuch a monfter when it was in
his power to remove him, had brought deftruclion
upon the whole empire 3 and by a foolifli clemency -
made himfelf the author of his future villanies. This
would have been yet more clear, if the world had
then been in fuch a temper as to be capable of an
intire liberty. But the antient foundations had been
overthrown, and nothing better could be built upon
the new, than fomething that might in part reiift
that torrent of iniquity which had overflow'd the
beft part of the world, and give m.ankind a little
time to breathe under a lefs barbarous mafter. Yet
all the beft men did join in the work that was then
to be done, tho' they knew it would prove but im-
pcrfeft. The facred hiftory is not without exam.ples
of this kind : when Ahab had fubverted the law,
fjt up lalfe witnefTes and corrupt judges to deftroy
the innocent, killed the prophets, and eftabliflied
idolatrv, his houfe muft then be cut off, and his

blood

Sea. 40. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 341

blood be lickt up by dogs. When matters are
brought to this pafs, the declfion is eafy. The
queftion is only, whether the punifhment of crimes
fliall fall upon one or a few perfons who are guilty
of them, or upon a whole nation that is innocent;
If the father may not die for the fon, nor the fon for
the father, but every one mufl bear the penalty of
his own crimes, it would be moft abiurd to punijfh
the people for the guilt of princes. \¥hen the earl
of Morton was fent ambaffador to queen Elizabeth
by the eftates of Scotland, tojuitify their proceed-
ings againft Mary their queen, whom they had
obliged to renounce the government ; he alledged
amongft other things the murder of her hufband
plainly proved againft her ; afferted the antient right
and cuftom of that kingdom, of * examining the
adlions of their kings ; by which means, he faid,
many had been -j- punifhed with death, imprifon-
ment and exile ; confirmed their adlions bv the ex-
amples of other nations ^ and upon the whole matter
concluded, that if ihe was ftill permitted to live, it
was not on account of her innocence, or any exem.p-
don from the penalties of the law, but from the
mercy and clemency of the people, who contenting
themfelves with a refignation of her right and power
to her fon, had fpared her. This difcourfe, which
is fet down ^t large by the hiftorian cited on the
margin, being of fuch flrength in it felf, as never

* Animadvertendl in regcs.

•\ Morce, vinculis & exilio puniti. Buch^ti. hift. Scot. I. 20. Qai
tot reges regno exuerunt, t'xilio damnarunt, carceribus coercicrunt,
fnpplicio denique aiTecerunt, nee anquam tamen de accrbitate legis.
minuenda mentio eft facia, &c. Ibid. Faci'e apparet regnuin nihil
aliud elTe, quam mutuam inter regem & populam ftipulationem. Nou
dc iilarum fandionum genere, qua^ mutatioa:bus tcmporum iunt ob-
moxire, fed in primo generis humani exortu, Sc mutuo piopt omniuiTi
gentium conienfa coaiprobata;, Sc una cum rerum iiaiura infragiles
-& lempiternas perennen:. Ibid.

Z 3 to

342 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill;

to have been any otherwife anfwered than by railing,
and no way diiapproved by queen Elizabeth or her
council to whom it was made, either upon a gene-
ral account of the pretenfions of princes to be exemp-
ted from tkc penalties of the law, or any pretext
that they had particularly mifapplied them in rela-
tion to their queen, I may juftly fay, that when
nations fall under fuch princes as are either utterly
iincapable of m.aking a right ufe of their power, or
do maliciouily abufe that authority with which they
are entruiled. thofe nations ftand obliged, by the
duty they owe to themfeives and their poilerity, to
ufe the beft of their endeavours to rem.ove the evil,
whatever dang-er or difficulties they may meet with
in the performance. Pontius the Samnite faid as
truly as bravely to his countrymen, that *^ '^ thofe
" arms v/ere juft and pious that were neceflary, and
" neceiTary v/hen there was no hope of fafety by
" any other way." This is the voice of mankind,
and is diflik'd only by thofe princes, who fear the
deferved punifhments may fail upon them ; or by
their fervants and flatterers, v/ho being for the moft
part the authors of their crimes, think they fliall be
involved in their ruin.

SECT. XLI.

T^he people for whom and by whom .'he rnagljlrate is
create:^ ^ can only judge "whdber he rig. tly perform
his cfrice or not.

'/"T^ 1 S com.m.only raid, that no man ought to be

Jthe iudp;e of his own cafe ; and our author
JO '

lays much v/eight upon it as a fundam.ental m/axim,
tho' according to his ordinary inconilancy he over-

* Ju'la piiq-je lunt arma, c] lioMS nece.Taria, & nccciyr.ria, qui-
his TiuWa. nifi in armis fpcs ell falutis. T, Li^> lib. 8.

throws

Sea. 41. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 343

throws it in the cafe of kings, where it ought to
take place if in any ; for it often falls out that no
men are lefs capable of forming a right judgment
than they. Their paffions and interefts are moft
powerful to difturb or pervert them. No men are
fo liable to be diverted from jullice by the flatteries
of corrupt fervants. They never ad: as kings, except
for thole by whom and for whom they are created ;
and adling for others, the account of their actions
cannot depend upon their own will. Neverthelefs
I am not afraid to fay, that naturally and properly a
man is the judge of his ov/n concernments. No
one is or can be deprived of this privilege, unlefs by
his own confent, and for the good of that fociety
into which he enters. This right therefore muft
neceffarily belong to every man in all cafes, except
only fuch as relate to the good of the community,
for whofe fake he has diverted him.felf of it. If I
find my felf affli(fled with hunger, thirft, wearinefs,
cold, heat, or ficknefs, 'tis a folly to tell me, I ought
not to fcek meat, drink, reft, fhelter, refrefliment,
or phyfick, becaufe I muft not be the judge of my
'own cafe. The like may be faid in relation to my
houfe, land, or eftate 3 I may do what I pleafe with
them, if I bring no damage upon others. But I
muft not fet fire to my houfe, by which my neigh-
bour's houfe may be burnt. I may not ered: forts
upon my own lands, or deliver them to a foreign
enemy, who may by that means infeft my country.
I may not cut the banks of the fea, or thofe of a
river, left my neighbour's ground be oversown,
becaufe the fociety into which I am incorporated,
.would by fjch means receive prejudice. My land
is not fimply my own, but upon condition that I
(liall not thereby bring damage upon the publick,
by v/hich I am proteCkd in the peaceable enjoy-

Z 4 ment

344 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

ment and innocent ufe of what I poffefs. But this
fociety leaves me a liberty to take fervants, and put
them away at my pleafure. No man is to dired:
me, of what quality or number they fliall be, or
can tell me whether I am well or ill ferved by them.
Nay, the ftate takes no other cognizance of what
pafles between me and them, than to oblige me to
perform the contradls I m.ake, and not to do that to
them which the law forbids : that is to fay, the
power to which I have fubmitted my felf, exercifes"
that jurifdidion over me, which was eflabliflied by
my confent, and under which I enjoy all the bene-
fits of life, which are of more advantage to me than
my liberty could have been, if I had retained it
wholly in my felf. The nature alfo and meafure of
of this fubmiffion mufl be determined by the reafons
that induce me to it. The fociety in which I live
cannot fubfift unlefs by rule ; the equality in which
men are born is fo perfed:, that no man will fuifer
his natural liberty to be abridged, except others do
the like : I cannot reafonably expedl to be defended
from wrojig, unlefs I oblige my felf to do none^ or
to fuffer the punifliment prefcribed by the law, if I
perform not my engagement. But without preju-
dice to the fociety into which I enter, I may and do
retain to my felf the liberty of doing what I pleafe in
all things relating peculiarly to my felf, or in which
I am to feek my own convenience.

Now if a private man is not fubjedl to the judg-
ment of any other, than thofe lo whom he fubmits
himfelf for his own fafety and convenience; and
notwithftanding that fubmiflion, ftill retains to him-
felf the right of ordering according to his own will
all things merely relating to himfelf, and of doing
wliat he pleafes in that which he does for his own
fake; the lame right muft m.ore certainly belong to

whole

Sea. 41- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 345

whole nations. When a controverfy happens be-
tween Caius and Seius in a matter of right, neither
of them may determine the caufe, but it mufl be re-
ferred to a judge fuperior to both ; not becaufe 'tis
not fit that a man lliould be judge of his own cafe,
but becaufe they have both an equal right, and nei-
ther of them owes any fubjedtion to the other. But
if there be a contefl between me and my fervants
concerning my fervice, I only am to decide it : he
muft ferve me in my own way, or be gone if I think
fit, tho' he ferve me never fo well ; and I do him no
wrong in putting him away, if either I intend to
keep no fervant, or find that another will pleafe me
better. I cannot therefore ftand in need of a judge,
unlefs the contefl be with one who lives upon an
equal foot with me. No man can be my judge,
unlefs he be my fuperior ; and he cannot be my
fuperior, who is not fo by my confent, nor to any
other purpofe than I confent to. This cannot be
the cafe of a nation, which can have no equal within
it felf. Controverfies may rife with other nations,
the decifion of which may be left to judges chofen
by mutual agreement ; but this relates not - to our
^ queflion. A nation, and mofl efpecially one that
is powerful, cannot recede from its own right, as a
private man from the knowledge of his own weak-
nefs and inability to defend himfelf muft come un-
der the protedion of a greater power than his own.
The ftrength of a nation is not in the magiftrate,
but the ftrength of the magiftrate is in the nation.
The wifdom, induftry and valour of a prince may
add to the glory and greatnefs of a nation, but the
foundation and fubftance will alv/ays be in it felf.
If the magiftrate and people were upon equal terms,
as Caius and Seius, receiving equal and mutual ad-
vantages from each other, no man could be judge
4 of

346 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

cf their differences, but fuch as they Ihould fet up
for that end. This has been done by many nations.
The antient Germans referred the decifion of the
moil: difficult matters to their priefts : the Gauls
and Britons to the druids : the Mahometans for
fome aces to the caHfs of Babylon: the Saxons in
England, when they had embraced the chriftian
religion, to their clergy. Whilft all Europe lay
under the popifli fuperftition, the decifion of fuch
matters was frequently affumed by the pope ; men
often fabmitted to his judgment, and the princes
that refifted were for the moil part excommunicated,
depofed and defliroyed. Ail this was done for the
fame reafons. Thefe men were accounted holy
and infpired, and the fentence pronounced by them
was ufuaily reverenced as the judgment of God, who
was thought to direCl them 3 and all thofe who re-
fufed to fubmit, v/ere efieemed execrable. But no
man, or number of men, as I think, at the inflitu-
tion of a magiftrate did ever fay, If any difference
happen between you or your fucceffors and us, it
fliall be determined by your felf or by them, whe-
ther they be men, women, children, mad, fooliili^
or vicious. Nay if any fuch thing had been, the
folly turpitude and madnefs of fuch a fandion or
ftipulation muft neceffarily have deflroy'd it. But
if no fuch thing was ever known, or could have no
effect if it had been in any place, 'tis moft abfurd to
impofe it upon all. The people therefore cannot
be deprived of their natural rights upon a frivolous
pretence to that which never was and never can be.
They who create magiftracies, and give to them
fuch name, form and power as they think fit, do
only know, whether the end for which they were
created^ be performed or not. They who give a
being to the power which had none, can only judge

whether

Sea. 41^ CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 347

whether it be employ 'd to their welfare, or turned
to their ruin. They do not fet up one or a few men
that they and their pofterity may live in fplendor
and greatnefs, but that juftice may be adminiftred,
virtue eflabliilied, and provilion made for the pub-
lick fafety. No wife man will think this can be
done, if thofe who fet themfelves to overthrow the
law, are to be their own judges. If Caligula, Nero,
Vitellius, Domitian, or Heliogabalus, had been
fubjed: to no other judgment, they would have
compleated the deftruffion of the empire. If the
difputes between Durftus, Evenus the third, Dar-
dannus, and other kings of Scotland, with the nobi-
lity and people, might have been determined by
themfelves, they had efcaped the punilhments they
fufFer'd, and ruined the nation as they defigned.
Other methods were taken -, they periflied by their
madnefs 5 better princes were brought into their
places, and their fucceiTors were by their example
admoniflied to avoid the ways that had proved fatal
to them. If Edward the fecond of England, with
Gavefton and the Spencers, Richard the fecond
with Trefilian and Vere, had been permitted to be
the judges of their own cafes, they who had mur-
dered the beft of the nobility would have purfued
their defigns to the deftrudion of fuch as remained,
the enilaving of the nation, the fubverfion of the
conflitution, and the eftablifhment of a mere tyran-
ny in the place oi a mixed monarchy. But our an-
ceilors took better meafures : they who had felt the
fmart of the vices and follies of their princes, knew
what remedies were mofl fit to be apphcd as well
as the beft time of applying them. They found vhe
effeds of extreme corruption in governm.ent to be
fo defperately pernicious, that nations muil ncxeffa-
rily perifh. unlcfs it be corredled, and the ftate re-
duced

34S DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

duced to Its firft principle, or altered. Which being
the cafe, it was as eafy for them to judge, whether
the governor who had introduced that corruption
fliouid be brought to order, removed if he would
not be reclaimed, or whether he fhould be fuffer'd
to ruin them and their poflerity, as it is for me to
judge, whether I fliould put away my fervant, if I
knew he intended to poifon or murder me, and had
a certain facility of accomplifhing his defign ; or
whether I fhould continue him in my fervice till he
had performed it. Nay the matter is fo much the
more plain on the fide of the nation, as the difpro-
portion of merit between a whole people, and one
or a few men entrufted with the power of governing
them, is greater than between a private man and his
fervant. This is fo fully confirmed by the general
confent of mankind, that we know no government
that has not frequently either been altered in form,
or reduced to its original purity, by changing the
families or perfons who abufed the power with
which they had been entrufi:ed. Thofe who have
wanted wifdom and virtue rightly and feafonably to
perform this, have been foon dellroy'd ; like the
Goths in Spain, who by omitting to curb the fury
of Witza and Rodrigo in time, became a prey to
the Moors. Their kingdom by this means deftroy'd
was never reftored, and the remainder of that nation
ioining with the Spaniards whom they had kept in
fubjedion for three or four ages, could not in lefs
than eight hundred years, expel thofe enemies they
might have kept out, only by removing two bafe and
vitious kings. Such nations as have been fo cor-
rupted, that when they have applied themfelves to
feek remedies to the evils they fuffered by wicked
magiftrates, could not fall upon fuch as were pro-
portionable to the difeafe, have only vented their

paflions

Sea. 41. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 349

paflions in deftroying the immediate inftniments of
their oppreffion, or for a while dela5^ed their utter
ruin. But the root ftill remaining, it foon produc-
ed the fame poifonous fruit, and either quite dc-
ftroyed, or made them languifli in perpetually mi-
fery. The Roman empire was the moil eminent
example of the firft 5 many of the monfters that
had tyrannized over them were killed, but the great-
efl advantage gained by their death, was a refpite
from ruin 5 and the government which ought to
have been eftablifhed by good laws, depending only
upon the virtue of one man, his life proved to be no
more than a lucid interval, and at his death they re-
lapfed into the depth of infamy and mifery : and in
this condition they continued till that empire was
totally fubverted.

All the kingdoms of the Arabians, Medes, Per-
fians, Moors, and others of the eaft are of the other
fort. Common fenfe inftrudls them, that barbarous
pride, cruelty and madnefs grown to extremity, can-
not be borne : but they have no other way than to kill
the tyrant, and to do the like to his fucceifor if he
fall into the fame crimes. Wanting; that wifdom
and valour which is required for the inftitution of
a good government, they languifh in perpetual flavery,
and propofe to themfelves nothing better than to live
under a gentle mailer, which is but a precarious life,
and little to be valued by men of bravery and fpirit.
But thofe nations that are more generous, who fct
a higher value upon liberty, and better underfland
.the ways of prefer ving it, think it a fmall matter to
defiroy a tyrant, unlefs they can alfo dcftroy the
tyranny. They endeavour to do the v/ork through-
ly, either by changing the government intirely, or
reforming it according to the firll: inftitution, and
making fuch good laws as may preferve its Integrity

when

S50 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

when reformed. This has been fo freqlient in all
the nations (both antient and modern) with whofe
ad:ions we are bed acquainted^ as appears by the
foregoing examples, and many others that might be
alledged, if the cafe were not clear, that there is not
one of them which will not furnifh us with many
inftances ; and no one magiilracy now in being
which does not owe its original to fome judgment
of this nature. So that they muft either derive their
right from fuch actions, or coniefs theyhav^e none at
all and leave the nations to their original liberty of
fetting up thofe magiflracies which beft pleafe them-
felves, without any reftridtion or obligation to regard
one perfon or family more than another.

SECT. XLII.

The perfo7i that wears the crown cafinof determine
the affairs which the law refers to the king.

OUR author, with the reft of the vulgar, feems
to have been led into grofs errors by the form
of writs fumoioning perfons to appear before the
king. The common ftile ufed in the trial of de-
linquents ; the name of the king's witneffes given
to thofe who accufe them ; the verdids brought in
by juries, *^ coram domino rege/' and the profecu-
tion made in the king's name, feem to have caufed
this. And they who under ftand not thefe phrafes,
render the law a heap of the moft grofs abfurdities,
and the king an enemy to every one of his fubjeds,
when he ought to be a father to them all ; iince
without any particular coniideration or examniation
of what any witnefs depofes in a court of junice,
tending to the death, confifcation, or other punifh-
ment of any man, iie is called the king s witnefs

whether

Sea, 42. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 351

whether he fpeak the truth or a lie, and on that ac-
count favoured. 'Tis not neceffary to aliedge many
inftances in a cafe that is fo plain ; but it may not be
amifs to infert two or three of the mofl imporlant
realbns to prove my affertion.

1. If the law did intend that he or fhe who wears
the crown, fhould in his or her perfon judge all
caufes, and determine the moft difficult queftions,
it muft, like our author, prefume that they will al-
ways be of profound wifdom to comprehend all of
them, and of perfecfl integrity always to aft accord-
ing to their underftanding. Which is no lefs than
to lay the foundation of the government upon a
thing merely contingent, that either never was, or
very often fails, as is too much verified by ex-
perience, and the hiflories of all nations -, or elfe to
refer the decifion of all to thofe who through the
infirmities of age, fex, or perfon, are often inca-
pable of judging the leaft, or fubjeft to fuch paf-
fions and vices as v/ould divert them from juftice
tho' they did underftand it ; both v/hich feem to be
almoft equally prepofterous.

2. The law muft alfo prefume that the prince is
always prefent in all the places where his name is
ufed. The king of France is (as I have faid already)
efteemed to be prefent " * on the feat of jufiice" in
all the parliaments and fovereign courts of the king-
dom : and if his corporeal prefence were by that
phrafe to be underftood, he muft be in all thoie dif-
tinft and far diftant places at the fame time ^ which
abfurdity can hardly be parallel'd, unlefs by the
Popifn opinion of T^ranfubjlantiation. But indeed
they are fo far from being guilty of fuch monftrous
abfurdity, that he caiinot in perfon be prefent at
any trial, and no man can be judged if he be. This

* Sar Ton lit de juftice.

was

S52 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

was plainly aflerted to Lewis the thirteenth (who
would have been at the trial of the duke of Candale)
by the prefident de Bellievre, who told him that as
he could judge no man himfelf, fo they could not
judge any if he were preient : upon which he
retired.

3. The laws of moft kingdoms giving to kings
the confifcation of delinquents eflates, if they in
their ovv^n perfons might give judgment upon them,
they would be conftituted both judges and parties ^
v/hich befides the forementioned incapacities to
which princes are as much fubjed; as other men^
w^ould tempt them by their own perfonal intereft to
fubvert all manner of juftice.

This therefore not being; the meaning; of t! .e iaw,
we are to inquire what it is ; and the thing is fo
plain that we cannot miftake, unlefs we do it wil-
fully. Som.e r.":ne muft be ufed in ail manner of
tranfadtions, and in matters of public concernment
none can be fo fit as that of the principal magiftrate.
Thus are leao;ues made, not only with kin<?s and
emperors, but with the dukes of Venice and Genoa,
the avoyer and fenate of a canton in Switzerland,
the burgermafler of an imperial town in Germany,
and the ftates general of t::.e united provinces. But
no man thinking, I prefume, thefe leagues would
be of any value, if they could only oblige the per-
fons whofe names are ufed, 'tis plain that they do
not ftipulate only for themfelves ; and that their fti-
pulations would be of no value if they were merely
perfonal. And nothing can more certainly prove
they are not fo, than that we certainly know, thefe
dukes, avoyers and burgermafcers can do nothing of
themfelves. The power of the ftates general of the
united provinces is limited to the poinrs menrioned
in the a^ of union made at Utrecht. The empire

is

Sed. 42. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. ss3
is not obliged by any flipulation made by the empe-
ror without their conknt. Nothing is more com-
mon than for one king making a league with another,
to exa6t a confirmation of their agreemen':, by the
parliaments, diets or general eilates ; becaafe, fays
* Grotius, a prince does not fdpulate for him felf,
but for the people under his government ; and a king
deprived of his kingdom, lofes the right of fending
an ambaffidor. The povv^ers of Europe fliewed
themfelves to be of this opinion in the cafe of Por-
tugal. When Philip the fecond had gained the pof-
feffion, they treated with him concerning the affairs
relating to that kingdom : Few regarded Don An-
tonio J and no man confidered the dukes of Savoy,
Parma or Braganza, who perhaps had the moil
plaufible titles : But when his grandfon Philip the
fourth had loft that kingdom, and the people had
fet up the duke of Braganza, they all treated with
him as king. And the Englifh court, tho' then in
amity with Spain, and not a little influenced by a
Spanifli fadlion, gave example to others, by treating
with him and not with Spain touching matters re-
lating to that ftate. Nay, I have been informed by
thofe who well underftood the affairs of that tim.e,
that the lord Cottino;ton advilinr^ the late kino; not to
receive any perfons fent from the duke of Braganza,
rebel to his ally the king of Spain, in the quality of
ambaffadors j the king anfwered, that he mull look
upon that perfon to be king of Portugal, who v/as •
acknowledged by the nation. And I am miftalccn if
his majefty now reigning did not find ail the princes
and ftates of the world to be of the fame mind,
when he was out of his kingdom, and could oblige
jno man but himfelf and a few followers by any trea-
ty he could make.

* De i'.ir. bell. 1. 3.

Vol. li. A a For

354 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill

For the fame reafon the names of kings are ufed
in treaties, when they are either children, or other-
wife incapable of knowing what alliances are
fit to be made or rejedled j and yet fuch treaties
do equally oblige ihem, their fucceffors and people,
as if they were of mature age ana fit for governnment.
No man therefore ought to think it ftrange, if
the king's name be ufed in domeftic affairs, of
which he neither ought nor can take any cognizance.
In thefe cafes he is perpetually a minor : he muft
fuffer the law to ta!:e its due courfe -, and the
judges, tho' nominated by him, are obliged by oath
not to have any regard to his letters or perfonal
commands. If a man be fued, he muft appear ;
and a delinquent is to be tried coram rege, but "no
other wife than '' fecundum legem terras, according
" to the law of the land," not his perfonal will or
opinion. And the judgments given muft be exe-
cuted, v/hether they pleafe him or not, it being al-
ways underftood th.t he can fpeak no otherwife than
the law fpeaks, and is always prefent as far as the
law requires. For this reafon a noble lord who
was irregularly detain'd in prifon in one thoufand fix
hundred and eighty-one, being by Habeas Corpus
brought to the bar of the king's bench, where he
fued to be releas'd upon bail ; and an ignorant judge
telling him he muft apply himfelf to the king, he
replied, that he came thither for that end ; that the
king might eat, drink, or fleep where he pleafed, but
when he render 'djuftice he was always in that place.
1 he king that renders juftice is indeed always there:
he never fleeps ; he is fubjc6t to no infirmity ; he
never dies unlefs the nation be extinguifhed. or fo
diffipated as to have no government. No nation
that has a fovereign power within itfelf, does ever
want this king. He was in Athens and Pvome, as

2 . well

Sed. 42. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 35s

well as at Babylon and Sufa. ; and is as properly faid
to be now in Venice, Switzerland, or Holland, as in
France, Morocco or Turky. This is he to whom we
all owe a fimple and unconditional obedience. This
is he " who never does any wrong:" 'tis before him
we appear, when we demand juftice, or render an
account of our adlions. All juries give their verdid:
in his fight: they are his commands that the judges
are bound and fworn to obey, when they are not at
all to confider fuch as they receive from the perfon
that wears the crown* 'Twas for treafon againft him
that Trefilian and others like to him in feveral ages
were hanged. They gratified the luflis of the vifi-
ble powers, but the invifible king would not be
mock'd. He caufed jufi:ice to be executed upon
Empfon and Dudley. He was injured when the
perjur'd wretches who gave that accurfed judgment
in the cafe of fliip-money, were fuifered to efcape
the like punifhment by means of the enfuing
troubles which they had chiefly raifed. And I leave
it to thofe who are concerned, to confider how
many in our days may exped: vengeance for the like
crimes.

I fliould here conclude this point, if the power
of granting a " Noli profequi celfet proceffus," and
pardons, which are faid to be annexed to the perfon
of the king, were not taken for a proof that all pro-
ceedings at law depend upon his will. But whoever
would from hence draw a general conclufion, muft
firft prove his propofition to be univerfally true. If
it be wholly falfe, no true dedudion can be made ;
and if it be true only in fome cafes, 'tis abfurd to
drav/ from thence a general conclufion ; and to eredt
a vaft fabric upon a narrow foundation is impoflible.
As to the general propofition I utterly deny it. The
king cannot flop any fuit that I begin in my own

A a 2 name,

356 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

name, or invalidate any judgment I obtain upon it :
he cannot releafe a debt of ten iliillings due to me,
nor a fentence for the Hke fum given upon an adion
of battery, affault. trefpafs, public nuifance, or the
like. He cannotpardon a man condemned upon an
appeal, nor hinder the perfon injured from appealing.
His power therefore is not univerfal : if it be not
univerfal, it cannot be inherent, but conferred upon
him, or entrufted by a fuperior power that limits

it.

Thefe limits are fixed by the law, the law there-
fore is above him. His proceedings muft be regu-
lated by the law, and not the law by his wilL
Befides, the extent of thofe limits can only be
knov/n by the intention of the law that fets them ;
and are fo vifible, that none but fuch as are wilfully
blind can miflake. It cannot be imagined that the
law, which does not give a pov\er to the king of
pardoning a man that breaks my hedge, can intend he
iliould have powxr to pardon one who kills my
father, breaks my houfe, robs me of my goods, abufes
ip.y children and fervants, wounds me, and brings
me in danger of my life. Whatever power he has
in fuch cafes, is founded upon a prefumption, that
he who has {worn not to deny or delay juftice to any
man, will not break his oath to interrupt it. And
farther, as he does nothing but what he may rightly
do, '' cum magnatum & fapientum confilio ;" and
that 'tis fuppofed, they will never advife him to do
any thing, but what ought to be done, in order to
attain the great ends of the law, juftice, and the
public fafety ; neverthelefs left this fhould not be
fufficient to keep things in their due order, or that
the king fhould forget his oath, not to delay or deny
juftice to any man> his counfellors are expofed to the

2 fevereft

Sea. 42. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 357

feverefl punifhments, if they advife him to do any
thing contrary to it, and the law upon which it is
grounded. So that the utmofl: advantage the king
can pretend to in this cafe, is no more than that
of the Norman, who faid he had gained his caufe,
becaufe it depended upon a point that was to be de-
cided by his oath ; that is to fay, if he will betray
the truft repofed in him, and perjure himfelf, he
may fometimes exempt a villain from the punifh-
ment he deferves, and take the guilt upon him (elf.
I fay fometimes^ for appeals may be brought in fome
cafes, and the waterman who had been pardoned
by„his majefly in the year one thoufand fix hundred
and eighty, for a murder he had committed, was
condemned and hanged at the ailizes upon an appeal.
Nay, in cafes of treafon, which fome men think
relate moft particularly to the perfon of the king,
he cannot always do it. Gavefton, the two Spencers,
Trefilian, Em.pfon, Dudley, and others, have been
executed as traitors for things done by the king's
command -, and 'tis not doubted they would have
been faved, if the king's power had extended fo far.
I might add the cafes of the earls of Strafford and
Danby ; for tho* the king figned a warrant for the
execution of the firft, no man doubts he would have
faved him, if it had been in his power. The other
continues in prifon notwithftanding his pardon ; and
for any thing I knov/ he may continue where he is,
or come out in a way that v/ill not be to his fadsfac-
tion, unlefs he be found innocent, or fometning fall
out more to his advantage than his majefty's appro-
bation of what he has done. If therefore the king
cannot interpofe his authority to hinder the courfe of
the law in contefts betVv^een private men, nor remit
the debts adjudged to be due, or the damages given
to the perfons aggrieved, he can in his own perfon have

A a 3 no

358 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

no other power in things of this nature, than in
•fome degree to mitigate the vindi(5live power of the
law ; and this alfo is to be exercifed no other way
than as he is entrufted. But if he afts even in this
capacity by a delegated power, and in few cafes, he
muft aft according to the ends for which he is fo
entrufted, as the fame law fays, '^ cum magnatum
^' & fapisntum coniilio," and is not therein to pur^
fae his own will and interefts : if his oath farther
oblige him not to do it ; and his minifters are liable
to punishment, if they advife him otherwife : if in
matters of appeal he have no power 5 and if his
pardons have been of no value, when contrary to
his oath he has abufed that with which he is entrufted,
to the patronizing of crimes, and exempting fuch
delinquents from puniihment, as could not be par-*
doned without prejudice to the public, I may juftly
conclude, that the king, before w^hom every man is
bound to appear, who does perpetually and imparti-.
ally diftribute juftice to the nation, is not the man
or wom.an that wears the crown -, and that he or flie
cannot determine thofe matters, which by the law
are referred to the king. Whether therefore fuch
matters are ordinary or extraordinary, the decifion is
and ought to be placed where there is moft wifdom
and ftability, and vv' here paffion and private intereft
does Icafl: prevail to the obftrucStion of juftice. This
is the only way to obviate that confuiion and mif-
chief, which our author thinks it would introduce;
In cafes of the firft fort, this is done in England by
iudges and juries : in the other by the parliament,
which being the reprefentative body of the people,
and the colleded wifdom of the nation, is leaft
fubjed: to error, moft exempted from paffion, and
nioft free from corruption, their ovm good both

public

Sta. 43. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 359

public and private depending upon the redlitude of
their fandions. They cannot do any thing that is
ill without damage to themfelves and their pofteri-
ty ; which being all that can be done by human un-
derflanding, our lives, liberties and properties are
by our laws directed to depend upon them.

SECT. XLIII.

Proclamations are not laws.

OUR author, according to his ufual method and
integrity, lays great weight upon proclama-
tions, as the fignifications of the king's pleafure,
which in his opinion is our only law. But neither
law nor reafon openly directing, nor by confequences
infinuating that fuch a power ihould be put into an
uncertain or fufpedied hand, we may fafely deny
them to be laws, or in any fenfe to have the effcdl of
laws Nay, they cannot be fo much as fignifica-
tions of his will ; for as he is king, he can have no
will but as the law direds It he depart from the
law, he is no longer ' ;ing, and his will is nothing to
us. Proclamations, at mod, are but temporary, by
the advice of council, in purfuance of the law If
they be not fo, the fubiect is no way obliged to
obey them, and the counfellors are to be punidicd
for them. Thefe laws are either immemorial cuf-
toms, or (latutes. The firft have their beginning
and continuance from the univerfai confent of the
nation. The latter receive their authoritv and force
of laws from parliaments, as is frequently expreffed
in the preambles. Thefe are under God the heft
defence of our lives, liberties, and eftates : they pro-
ceed not from the blind, corrupt, and fluctuating
humour of a man, but from the mature deliberation
of the chciceft perfons of the nation, and fuch as

A a 4 have

360 DISCOURSES Chap. 111.

have the greateft intereH: in it. Our anceftors have
always relied upon thefe laws ; and 'tis to be hoped
we ihall not be fo abandoned by God, fo deprived
of courage and common fenfe, to fuffer ourfelves to
be cheated of the inheritance which they have fo fre-
quently, fo bravely, and fo conflantly defended. Tho*
experience has too well taught us, that parliaments
may have their failings, and that the vices, which
are induftrioufly fpread amongft them, may be too
prevalent -, yet they are the beft helps we have, and
we m.ay much more reafonably depend upon them,
than upon thofe who propagate that corruption
among them for which' only they can deferve to be
fufpeded. \¥e hope they will take care of our con-
cernments, fince they are as other men fo foon as a
feffion is ended, and can do nothing to our prejudice
that will not equally affecfl them and their pofterity;-
befides the guilt of betraying their country, which
can never be waflied off. If fome fhould prove falfe
to their truft, 'tis probable that others would con-
tinue in their integrity : Or if the bafe arts, which
are ufually prafiifed by thofe who endeavour to de-
lude, corrupt, enflave and ruin nations, fhould hap-
pen to prevail upon the youngeft and weakeft, it
may be reafonably hoped, that the wifeft will fee
the fnares, and inftrudt their companions to avoid
them. But if all things were fo put into the hands of
one man, that his proclamations v/ere to be elleemed
laws, the nation would be expofed to ruin, as foon
as it fljould chance to fall into an ill hand. 'Tis in-
vain to fay wx have a good king, who will not make
an ill ufe of his power ; for even the beft are fub-
je6l to be deceived by flatterers, and crowned heads
are almoft ever encompaffed by them. The princi-
pal art of a courtier is to obferve his mafter's paffions,
and to attack him on that fide where he feem.s to be

moft

Seft. 43- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 361
nioft weak. It would be a ftrange thing to find a
man impregnable in every part , and if he be not,
'tis impoffible he fliould reiid all the attempts that
are made upon him. If his judgment come to be
prepalTeffed, he and all that depend on him are loft.
Contradidlions, tho* never fo juft, are then unfafe,
and no man will venture upon them, but he who
dares facrifice himfelf for the public good. The
nature oi mian is frail, and ftands in need of affift-
ance. Virtuous adlions that are profitable to a
commomvealthj ought to be made, as far as it is
pofiibie, fafe, eafy, and advantageous : and 'tis the
utmoft imprudence to tempt men to be enemies to
the public, by making the moft pernicious acTtions
to be the means of obtaining honour and favour,
whilft no man can ferve his country, but with the
ruin of himfelf and his family.

However in this cafe the queftion is not concern-
ing a perfon : the fam.e counfels are to be folio A^ed
when Mofes or Samuel is in the throne, as if Cali-
gula had invaded it. Laws ought to aim at perpe-
tuity, but the virtues of a man die with him, and
very often before him. Thofe w^ho have deferved
the higheft praifes for wifdom and integrity, have
frequently left the honours they enjoyed to foolifh-v
and vicious children. If virtue m.ay in any refpedl
be faid to outlive the perfon, it can only be when
good men fram.e fuch laws and conftitutions as by
favouring it preferve themfelves. This has never
been done otherwife, than by balancing the powers
in fuch a manner, that the corruption which one or
a few men might fall into, f!:iould not be fuffered to
fpread the contagion to the ruin of the whole. The
long continuance of Lycurgus his laws is to be at-
tributed to this : they reftrained the lufiis of kings,
and reduced thofe to-order who adventured to tranf-

grefs

352 DISCOURSES Chap. III.'

grefs them : whereas the vv hole fabric muft have
fallen to the ground in a ihort time, if the firft that
had a fancy to be abfolute, had been able to efted:
his defign. This has been the fate of all govern-
ments that were made to depend upon the virtue of
a man, which never continues long in any family,
and when that fails all is lo t. The nations there-
fore that are fo happy to have good kings, ought to
make a right ufe of them, by eftabliihing the good
that may outlaft their lives. Thofe of them that
are good, will readily join in this work, and take
care that their fucceffors may be obliged in doing
the like, to be equally beneficial to their own fami-
lies, and the people they govern. If the rulers of
nations be reftrained, not only the people is by that
means fecured from the mifchiefs of their vices and
follies, but they themfeives are preferv d from the
greateft temptations to ill, and the terrible effeds of
the vengeance that frequently enfues upon it. An
unlimited prince might be juilly compared to a weak
fhip expofed to a violent ftorm, with a vaft fail and
no rudder. We have an eminent example of this
in the book of "^ Either. A wicked villain havine
filled the ears of a foolifh king with falfe flories of
the Jews, he iffues out a proclamation for their ut-
ter extirpation ; and not long after being informed of
the truth, he gave them leave by another procla-
mation to kill whom they pleafed, which they ex-
ecuted upon feventy thoufand men. The books of
Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel, m.anifeflly difcover
the like fludluation in all the courJels of Nabucho-
donofor, Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes. When
good men had credit with them, they favoured the
Ifraelites ; fent them back to their own country .
reftored the facred veffels that had been taken away .

* Chap, iii,

gave

Sea. 43. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 363

gave them all things neceffary for the rebuilding of
the city, and advanced the chief of them to the
higheft employments. But if they fell into ill hands,
three juft men muft be thrown into the burning
furnace for refufing to v^oriliip an idol ^ Daniel muit
becaft to the lions ^ the holy city efteemed rebellious,
and thofe who endeavour to rebuild it, enemies to
kings. Such was the ftate of things, when their
proclamations palTed for laws, and numbers of flat-
tering flaves were ready to execute their commands,
without examining whether they were juft or unjuft,
good or bad. The life and death of the beft men,
together with the very being of nations, was expof-
ed to chance, and they were either preferved or de-
ftroyed according to the humour of that man who
fpoke laft to the king, or happened to have credit
with him. If a frantic fancy come into the head of
a drunken whore, Perfepolis muft be burnt, and
the hand of Alexander is ready to execute her will.
If a dancing wench pleafe Herod, the moft venerable
of all human heads muft be offered in a diili for a fa-
crifice to the rage of her im^pure mother. The nature
of man is fo frail, that wherefoever the word of a
fingle perfon has had the force of a law, the innume-
rable extravagances and milchiefsit has produced have
been fo notorious, that all nations v/ho are not ftupid,
flavifli and brutilh, have always abominated it, and
made it their principal care to find out remedies
againft it, by fo dividing and balancing the powers
of their government, that one or a few men might
not be able to opprefs and deftroy thofe they ought
to preferve and protedl. This has always been as
grateful to the beft and wifeft princes, as necef-
fary to the weakeft and w^orft, as I have proved al-
ready by the exam.ples of Theopompus, Mofes, and
rnany others* Thefe confiderations have given be-
ginning.

3^4 D I S C OU R S E S Chap. III.

ginning, growth and continuance to all the mixed
governments that have been in the world; and I may
juftly fay there never was a good one that was not
mixed . If other proofs of their rectitude were want-
ing, our author's hatred would be enough to juftify
them. He is fo bitter an enemy to mankind, as
to be difpleafed with nothing but that which tends to
their good, and fo perverfe in his judgment, that we have
reafon to believe that to be good which he mofl abhors.
One would think he had taken the model of
the government he propofes, from the monftrous
tyranny of Ceylon, an ifland in the Eaft Indies, where
the king knows no other law than his own will.
He kills, tears in pieces, empales, or throvv^s to
his elephants whomfoever he pleafes : no man has
any thing that he can call his own : he feldom fails
to deftroy thofe who have been employed in his
domeftic fervice, or public offices; and few obtain
the favour of being put to death and thrown to the
dogs without torments. His fubjeds approach him
no otherwife, than on their knees, licking the duft,
and dare affume to themfelves no other name than
that of dogs, or limbs of dogs. This is a true
pattern of Filmer's Patriarchical Monarch. His
majefty, as I fuppofe, is fufficiently exalted 3 for he
does whatever he pleafes. The exercife of his
power is as gentle as can reafonably be expelled from
one who has all by the unqueftionable right of
ufurpation ; and knows the people will no longer
fuffer him, and the villains he hires to be the inftru-
ments of his cruelty, than they can be kept in fuch
ignorance, weaknefs and bafenefs, as neither to know
how to provide for themfelves, or dare torefift him.
We ought to efteem ourfelves happy, if the like
could be eflabliflied among us; and are much
obliged to our author for fo kindly propofmg an ex-
pedient

Sea. 43. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 365

pedient that might terminate all our difputes. Let
proclamations obtain the power of laws, and the
bufinefs is done. They may be fo ingenioufly con-
trived, that the antient laws, which we and our
fathers have highly valued, fliall be aboliflied, or
made a fnare to all thofe that dare remember they are
Engliflimen, and are guilty of the unpardonable
crime of loving their country, or have the courage,
condudt and reputation required to defend it. This
is the fum of Filmer's philofophy, and this is the
legacy he has left to teftify his affedlion to the nation ;
which having for a long time lain unregarded, has
been lately brought into the light again, as an intro-
dudtion of a popifli fucceffor, who is to be efla-
bliflied, as we ought to believe, for the fecurity of
the proteftant religion, and our Engliili liberties.
Both will undoubtedly flourifh under a prince who
is made to believe the kingdom is his patrimony ^
that his will is a law, and that he has a power
which none may refift. If any man doubt whether
he will make a good ufe of It, he may only examine
the hiftories of what others in the fame circum-
ftances have done in all places w^here they have had
power. The principles of that religion are fo full of
meeknefs and charity; the Popes have always fhew'd
themfelves fo gentle towards thofe who would not
fubmit to their authority ; the Jefuits who may be
accounted the foul that gives Hfe to the whole body
of that fadion, are fo well natur'd, faithful and
exa(fl in their morals ; fo full of innocence, juftice
and truth, that no violence is to be fear'd from fuch
as are govern d by them. The fatherly care Cne\w'd
to the Proteftants of France, by the five laft kings of
the houfe of Valois; the mercy of Philip the
fecond of Spain to his pagan fubjeds in the Weft-
Indies,

^66 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

Indies, and the more hated proteftants in the Nether-
lands; the moderation of the dukes of Savoy towards
the Vaudois in the marquifate of Saluzzo and the vallies
of Piedmont -, the gentlenefs and faith of the tvva
Maries queens of England and Scotland; the kindnefs
of the Papifts to the Proteftants of Ireland in the
year 1 64 1 ; with what we have reafon to believe
they did and do Hill intend, if they can accomplifli
the ends of their confpiracy; in a word, the fweet-
nefs and apoflolicalmeeknefsof tbeinquifition, may
fufficiently convince us that nothing is to be feared
where that principle reigns. We may fuiFer the
word of fuch a prince to be a law, and the people to
be made to believe it ought to be fo, when he is
expeded. Tho* we fhould wave the bill of exclulion,
and not only admit him to reign as other kings have
done, but reiign the whole power into his hands, it
would neither bring inconvenience or danger on the
prefent king. He can with patience expedl that
nature fhould take her courfe, and would neither
anticipate nor fecure his entrance into the poffeflion
of the power, by taking one day from the life of his
brother. Tho' the Papifts know that like a true fon,
of their church, he would prefer the advancement of
their religion before all other confiderations; and that
one ftab with a dagger, or a dofe of poifon, w^ould
put all under his feet, not one man would be found
among them to give it. The affaflins were Maho-
metans, not pupils of the honeft Jefuits, nor ever
employed by them. Thefe things being certain, all
our concernments would be fecure, if inftead of the
foolifh ftatutes and antiquated cuftoms, on which
our anceftors and we have hitherto doted, we may
be troubled with no law but the kings will, and a
proclamation may be taken for a fuiiicient declaration

of

Seft. 43. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 3^7

of it. We {hall by this means be delivered from
that *• Liberty with a mifchief," in which our
miflaken nation feems fo much to delight. This
phrafe is fo new, and fo peculiar to our author,
that it deferves to be written upon his tomb. We
have heard of *' tyranny with a mifchief, flavery and
" bondage with a mifchief 5'* and they have been
denounced by God againfl: wicked and perverfe na-
tions, as mifchiefs comprehending all that is moft
to be abhorr'd and dreaded in the world. But Filmer
informs us that liberty, which all wife and good
men have in all ages efleemed to be the moft va-
luable and glorious privilege of mankind, is a mif-
chief. Ifhedeferve credit, Mofes, Jofhua, Gideon,
Samfon, and Samuel, with others like them,
were enemies to their country, in depriving the
people of the advantages they enjoy'd under the
paternal care of Pharaoh, Adonibezek, Eglon, Jabin,
and other kings of the neighbouring nations, and
reftoring them to that '' liberty with a mifchief'
which he had promifed to them. The Ifraelites
were happy under the power of tyrants, whofe
proclamations were laws ; and they ought to
have been thankful to God for that condition, and
not for the deliverances he wrought by the hands of
his fervants. Subjed'ion to the will of a man is
happinefs, liberty is a mifchief. But this is fo
abominably wicked and deteftable, that it can deferve
no anfwer,

SECT.

368 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

SECT. XLIV.

iVb people that is not free can Juhflitute delegates,

O W full foever the power of any perfon of
people may be, he or they are obliged to give
only fo much to their delegates, as feems convenient
to themfelves, or conducing to the ends they defire
to attain 3 but the delegate can have none except
what is conferred upon him by his principal. If
, therefore the knights, citizens and burgefles fent by
the people of England to ferve in parliament have a
pov/er, it muft be more perfedly and fully in thofe
that fend them. But (as w^as proved inthelaft fecSion)
proclamations, and other fignifications of the king's
pleafure, are not laws to us. They are to be regu-
lated by the law, not the law by them. They are
to be confidered only fo far as they are conformable to
the law from which they receive all the ftrength that
is in them, and can confer none upon it. We know
no laws but our own ftatutes, and thofe immemorial
cuftoms eftablifhed by the confent of the nation ;
which may be, and often are changed by us. The
legiflative power therefore that is exercifed by the
parliament, cannot be conferred by the writ of
fummons, but muft be effentially and radically in the
people, from whom their delegates and reprefenta-
tives have all that they have. But, fays our author.
They muft only choofe, and truft thofe whom
they choofe, to do what they lift ; and that is as
much liberty as many of us deferve for our irregu-
lar ele6lions of BurgefTes." This is ingenioufly
concluded : I take what fervant I pleafe, and when
I have taken him I muft fuffer him to do what he
pleafes. But from whence fliould this neceffity,
arife ? Why m.ay not I take one to be my groom,

another

cc

(C

cc

Sea. 44. Concerning government. sCg

another to be my cook, and keep them both to the
offices for which I took them ? What law does herein
reftrain my right ? And if I am free in my private
capacity to regulate my particular affairs according to
my own difcretion, and to allot to each fervant his
proper work, why have not I with my affociates
the freemen of England the like liberty of directing
and limiting the powers of the fervants Vv^e employ
in our public affairs ? Our author gives us reafons
proportionable to his judgment: " This were Hberty
" v/ith a mifchief ; and that of choofing only is as
'^ much as many of us deferve." I have already
proved, that as far as our hiftories reach, we have
had no princes or magiilrates, but fuch as we have
made, and they have had no other power than what
we have conferred upon them. They cannot be the
judges of our merit, who have no power but what we
gave them, thro' an opinion they did or might deferve
it. They may diftribute in parcels to particulars
that vv^ith which th.ey are entrufted in the grofs.
But 'tis impoffible that the public (hould depend ab-
folutely upon thofe who are nothing above other
men, except w^hat they are made to be, for, and
by the public. The reftridlions therefore of the
people's liberty muil be from themfelves, or there
can be none.

Neverthelefs I believe, that the pov/ers of everv
county, city and borough of England, are regulated
by the general lav/ to which they have all confented,
and by which they are all made members of or^e
political body. This obliges them to proceed with
their delegates in a manner different from that v/hich
is ufed in the United Netherlands, or in Switzerland,
Amongft thefe every province, city or canton mak-
ing a diftindt body independeiTt from any other, and
exerciiing the fovereign power within itfelf^ looiis

Vol. II. B b upon

370 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

upon the reft as allies, to whom they are bound
only by fuch afts as they themfelves have made ;
and when any new thing not comprehended in them
happens to arife, thev oblige their delegates to give
them an account of it, and retain the power of de-
termining thofe matters in themfelves. 'Tis not fo
amongft us : Every county does not make a diftindl
body, having in itfelf a fovereign power, but is a
member of that great body which comprehends tlie
whole nation. 'Tis not therefore for Kent or Suflex,
Lewis or Maidftone, but for the whole nation, that
the members chofen in thofe places are fent to ferve
in parliament : and tho' it be fit for them as friends
and neighbours (fo far as may be) to hearken to the
opinions of the eIed:ors for the information of their
judgments, and to the end that what they fhall fay
may be of more weight, when every one is known
not to fpeak his own thoughts only, but thofe of a
great number of men -, yet they are not ftrictly and
properly obliged to give account of their a6tions to
any, unlefs the whole body of the nation for which
they ferve, and vv'^ho are equally concerned in their
refolutions, could be aifembled. This being im-
practicable, the only punifhment to which they are
fubje(^ if they betray their trud, is fcorn, infamy,
hatred, and an affurance of being rejected, when
they {[rail again feek the fame honour. And tho'
this mav feem a fmall matter to thofe who fear to
do ill only from a fenfe of the pains inflidled ; yet
it is very terrible to men of ingenuous fpirits, as
they are fuppofed to be who are accounted fit to be
entruiled with fo great powers. But why ihould
this be *' Liberty with a mifchief, " if it were other-
wife ? or how the liberty of particular focieties would
be greater, if they might do what they pleafed, than
whilft they .fend others to ad: for them, fuch wife

mea

Sea. 44. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 371

men only as Filmer can tell us. For as no man, o^
number of men, can give a power which he or they
have not, the Achaians, i^tolians, Latins, Samnites
and Tufcans, who tranfadled all things relating to
their aflbciations by delegates -, and the Athenians,
Carthaginians and Romans, who kept the power of
the flate in themfelves, w^ere all equally free. And
in our days, the united provinces of the Nr^.ther-
lands, the Switzers and Grifons, who are of the firft
fort ,and the Venetians, Genoefes, Lucchefes, who
are of the other, are fo alfo. All men that have any
degree of common fenfe, plainly fee, that the liberty
of thofe who a6l in their own perfons, and of thofe
who fend delegates, is perfedlly the fame, and the
exercife is^ andean only be changed by their con-
fent.

But whatever the law or cuftom of England be in
this point, it cannot concern our queflion. The
general propofition concerning a patriarchical powxr
cannot be proved by a fingle example. If there be
a general power every where, forbidding nations to
give inftrudiions to their delegates, they can do it no
where. If there be no fuch thing, every people
may do it, unlefs they have deprived themfelves of
their right, all being born under the fame condition-
'Tis to no purpofe to fay that the nations before
mentioned had not kings^ and therefore might adl as
they did. For if the genetal thefis be true, they
muft have kings ; and if it be not, none are obliged
to have them, unlefs they think fit, and the kings
they make are their creatures. But many of thefe
nations had either kings,or other magiftrates in power
like to them. The provinces of the Netherlands had
dukes, earls, or marqueffes : Genoa and Venice have
dukes. If any on account of the narrowncfs of their
territories have abllained from the name, it does not

B b 2 alter

372 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

alter the cafe ; for our difpute is not concerning the
name, but the right. If that one man, who is in
the principal magiftracy of every nation, muft be
reputed the father of that people, and has a power
which may not be limited by any law, it imports
not what he is called. Bat if in fmall territories he
may be limited by laws, he may be fo alfo in the
greatefl:. The leaft of men is a man as well as a giant:
and thofe in the Weft-Indies w^ho have not above
twenty or thirty fubjedls able to bear arms, are kings as
well as Xerxes. Every nation may divide itfelf into
fmall parcels as fome have done, by the fame law they
have reftrained or aboiiflied their kings, joined to
one another, or taken their hazard of fubiifting by
themfelves -, afted by delegation, or reftraining the
power in their own perfons ; given finite or in-
definite powers 'j referved to themfelves a power of
punching thofe who ihould depart from their duty,
or referred it to their general affemblies. And that
liberty, for which we contend as the gift of God
and nature, remains equally to them all.

If men who delight in cavilling fliould fay, that
great kingdoms are not to be regulated by the ex-
amples of fmall ftates, I defire to know when it was,
that God ordained great nations iliould be flaves,
and deprived of all right to difpofe matters relating
to their government -, Vvdiilft he left to fuch as had,
or fhould divide themfelves into fmall parcels, a
right of making fuch conftitutions as were moft
convenient for them. When this is refolved, we
ought to be informed, what extent of territory
is required to deferve the name of a great king-
dom. Spain and France are efteemed great, and
yet the deputies or procuradores of the feveral
f>arts of Caftille did in the cortez held at Ma-
drid, in the beginning; of * Charles the fifth's

* Vida de Carlos 5° de Sandoval.

Sea. 44-. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 373

reign, excule themfelves from giving the fupplies he
deiired, becaufe they had received no orders in that
particular from the towns that fent them ; and after-
wards receiving exprefs orders not to do it, tliey gave
his majefty a flat deniah The Hke was frequently
done during the reigns of that great prince, and of
his fon Philip the fecond. And generally thofe pro-
curadores never granted any thing of importance to
either of them, without particular orders from their
principals. The fame way was taken in France, as long
as there were any general affemblies of eftates; and if
it do not ftill continue, 'tis becaufe there are none.
For no man who underftood the affairs of that king-
dom, did ever deny, that the deputies were obliged
to follow the orders of thofe who fent them. And
perhaps, if men would examine by what means
they came to be aboliflied, they might find, that
the cardinals de Richheu and Mazarine, with other
minifters who have accomplifhed that work, were
actuated by fome other principle than that of juftice,
or the eflablifhment of the laws of God and nature.
In the general aifembly of eftates held at Blois in the
time of Henry the third, * Bodin then deputy for
the third ellate of Vermandois, by their particular
order, propofed fo many things as took up a great
part of their time. Other deputies alledged no other
reafon for many things faid and done by them, high-
ly contrary to the king's will, than that they were
commanded fo to do by their fupeiiors. Thefe ge-
neral affemblies being laid afide, the fame cuflom is
ftill ufed in the lelfer affemblies of eflates in Langue-
doc and Britany. The deputies cannot without the
infamy of betraying their trufl, and fear of punifh-
ment, recede from the orders given by their princi-
pals 3 and yet we do not find that '^ liberty with a

* Hift. Thuan.

B b 3 '' mifchief*

374 DISCOURSES Chap. Ill,

*^ mifchicf " is much more predominant in France
than amongft us. The fame method is every day
pra(!!tifed in the diets of Germany. The princes and
great lords, who have their places in their own right,
may do what they pleafe ; but the deputies of the
cities muft follow fuch orders a& they receive. The
hiftories of Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Bohe-
, rnia, teflify the famx thing: and if this *' liberty

(fkJ^d^^t, " with a mifchief '' do not (till continue entire in all

thofe places, it has been diminifhed by fuch means
as fuit better with the manners of pirates, than the
laws of God and nature. If England therefore do
not ftill enjoy the fame, we muft have been depriv-
ed of it either by fuch unjuftifiable means, or by
our own confent. But thanks be to God, we know
no people who have a better right to liberty, or have
better defended it than our own nation. And if we
do not degenerate from the virtue of our anceftors,
we may hope to tranfmit it intire to our pofterity.
We always may, and often do give inftrudlions
to our delegates ; but the lefs we fetter them, the
more we manifeft our own rights : for thofe who
have only a limited power, muft limit that which
they give ; but he that can give an unlimited power
muft neceffarily have it in himfelf. The great trea-
furer Burleigh faid, the parliament could do any
thing but turn a man into a woman. Sir Thomas
Moor, when Rich folicitor to king Henry the eighth
afked him, if the parliament might not make R.
Rich king, faid, that was Cafus levis, taking it
for granted that they might make or unmake
whom they pleafed. The firft part of this, which
includes the other, is aflerted by the ftatute of the
thirteenth of Q^Elizabeth, denouncing the moft
grievous punilhments againft all fuch as fhould dare
to contradict it. But if it be in the parliament, it

muft

Sea. 44' CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 37^

muft be in thofe who give to parliament- men the
powers by which they adl , for before they are chofen
they have none, and can never have any if thofe that
fend them had it not in themfelves. They cannot
receive it from the magiftrate, for that power which
he has is derived from the fame fpring. The power
of making and unmaking him cannot be from him-
felf ; for he that is not, can do nothing, and when
he is made can have no other power than is confer-
ed upon him by thofe that make him. He who de-
parts from his duty defires to avoid the punifliment,
the power therefore of punifhing him is not from
himfelf. It cannot be from the houfe of peers as it
is conftituted, for they a6l for themfelves, and are
chofen by kings : and 'tis abfurd to think that kings,
who generally abhor all reftridtion of their power,
fhould give that to others by which they might be
unmade. If one or more princes relying upon their
own virtue and refolutions to do good, had given
fuch a power againft themfelves, as Trajan did, when
he commanded the prefed: to ufe the fword for him
if he governed well, and againft him if he govern-
ed ill, it would foon have been refcinded by their
fucceffors. If our Edward the firft had made fuch
a law, his lewd fon would have aboliflied it, before
he would have fuffered himfelf to be imprifoned and
depofed by it. He would never have acknowledged
his unworthlnefs to reign, if he had been tied to no
other law than his own will, for he could not tranf-
grefs that s nor have owned the mercy of the par-
liament in fparing his life, if they had adled only by
a power which he had conferred upon them. This
power muft therefore be in thofe who adt by a dele-
gated power, and none can give it to their delegates
but they who have it in themfelves. The moft
certain teftimony that can be given of their unlimit-

B b 4 ed

'^^G DISCOURSES Chap. III.

ed power is, that they rely upon the wifiiom and
fidelity of their deputies, lb as to lay no reflridlions
upon them : they may do what they pleafe, if they
take care ne quid detriment! refpublica accipiat, that
the commonwealth receive no detriment. This is a
commiffion fit to be granted by wife and good men,
to thofe they choofe through an opinion that they
are fo alfo, and that they cannot bring any prejudice
upon the nation, that will not fall upon themfelves
and their pofterity. This is alfo fit to be received
by thofe, who feeking nothing but that which is
jufi in itfelf, and profitable to their country, cannot
forefee what will be propofed when they are all to-
gether ; much lefs refolve how to vote till they hear
the reafons on both fides. Tlie eledors miuft necef-
farily be in the fame ignorance ; and the law which
fliould oblige them to give particular orders to their
knights and burgeffes in relation to every vote, would
make the decifion of the moft important affairs to
depend upon the judgment of thofe who know no-
thing of the matters in quefl;ion, and by that means
caft the nation into the utmofi: danger of the moft in-
extricable confufion. This can never be the inten-
tion of that law which is fandtlo redla, and feeks
only the good of thofe that live under it. The fore-
fight therefore of fuch a mifchlef can never impair
the liberties of the nation, but cfiablifh them.

SECT. XLV.

^he legif.athe fo%ver is always arbitrary^ and not to
be trujled in the hands of any %vbo are not bound to
obey the laws they make.

F it be objected that I am a defender of arbitrary
powers, I confefs I cannot comprehend how any
focicty ciui be eftabliined or fubfift without them ;

for

Sea. 45- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 377

for the eftablifliment of government is an arbitrary
a6l, wholly depending upon the will of men. The
particular forms and conftitutions, the whole feries
of the magiftracy, together with the meafure of
power given to every one, and the rules by which
they are to exercife their charge, are fo alfo. Magna
Charta, which comprehends our antient laws, and
all the fubfequent ftatutes, were not fent from heaven,
but made according to the will of men. If no men
could have a power of miaking laws, none could ever
have been made ; for all that are or have been in
the world, except thofe given by God to thelfraelites,
were made by them ; that is they have exercifed an
arbitrary power in making that to be law which was
not, or annulling that which was. The various
laws and governments, that are or have been in
feveral ages and places, are the product of various
opinions in thofe v/ho had the power of making
them. This muft neceffarily be, unlefs a general
rule be fet to all 5 for the judgments of men will
vary if they are left to their liberty, and the variety
that is found among them, ihews they are fabjed: to
no rule but that of their own reafon, by which they
fee what is fit to be embraced or avoided, according
to the feveral circumftances under which they live.
The authority that judges of thefe circumftances is
arbitrary, and the legiflators fhew themfelves to be
more or lefs wife and good, as they do rightly or not
rightly exercife this power. The difference therefore
between good and ill governments is not, that thofe
of one fort have an arbitrary power which the others
have not, for they all have it: but that thofe w^hich
are well conftituted, place this power fo as it may be
beneficial to the people, and fet fuch rules as are
hardly to be tranfgrefled ; whilft thofe of the other
fort fail in one or both thefe points. Some alfo

through

378 D I S C OU R S E S Chap. Ill-

through want of courage, fortune, orftrength, may
have been oppreffed by the violence of ftrangers,
or fuffer'd a corrupt party to rife up w^ithin themfelves,
and by force or fraud to ufurp a power of impofing
what they pleafed. Others being fottifh, cowardly
and bafe, have fo far erred in the foundations, as to
give up themfelves to the will of one or few men,
who turning all to their own profit or pleafure, have
been juft in nothing but in ufing fuch a people like
beafts. Some have placed weak defences againft the
lufts of thofe they have advanced to the higheft
places, and given them opportunities of arrogating
more power to themfelves than the law allows.
Where any of thefe errors are committed, the govern-
ment may be eafy for a while, or at lead tolerable,
whiljft it continues uncorrupted, but it cannot be
lading. When the law may be eafily or fafely over-
thrown, it will be attempted. Whatever virtue may
be in the firft magiftrates, many years will not pafs
before they come to be corrupted ; and their fuc-
ceffors defieding from their integrity, will feize upon
the ill-guarded prey. They will then not only
govern by will, but by that irregular will, which
turns the law, that was made for the public good,
to the private advantage of one or few men. 'Tis
not my intention to enumerate the feveral ways that
have been taken to effedl this; or to fhew what
governments have defledled from the right, and how
far. But I think I may juftly fay, that an arbitrary
power was never well placed in any men and their
fucceffors, who were not obliged to obey the laws they
ihould make. This was well underftood by our
Saxon anceftors : they made laws in their aflemblies
and councils of the nation ; but all thofe who pro^
pofed or affented to thofe laws, asfoon as the affembly
was diiTalved, were compi*ehcnded under the power

of

Sea. 45- CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 579

of them as well as other men. They could do
nothing to the prejudice of the nation, that would
not be as hurtful to thofe who were prefent and their
pofterity, as to thofe who by many accidents might
beabfent. The Normans enter'd into, and continued
in the fame path. Our parliaments at this day are in
the fame condition. They may make prejudicial
wars, ignominious treaties, andunjuftlaws: yet when
the feflion is ended, they muft bear the burden as
much as others; and when they die, " the teeth of
" their children will be fet on edge with the fower
*' grapes they have eaten." But 'tis hard to delude
or corrupt fo many : men do not in matters of the
higheft importance yield to flight temptations. No
man ferves the devil for nothing : fmall wages will
not content thofe who expofe themfelves to perpetual
infamy, and the hatred of a nation for betraying
their country. Our kings had not wherewithal to
corrupt many till thefe laft tv/enty years, and the
treachery of a few was not enough to pafs a law.
The union of many was not eafily wrought, and
there was nothing to tempt them to endeavour it ;
for they could make little advantage during the
fefTion, and were to be loft in the mafs of the peo-
ple, and prejudiced by their own laws, as foon as it
was ended. They could not in a fhort time recon-
cile their various interefts or paffions, fo as to com-
bine together againft the public ; and the former
kings never went about it. We are beholden to
H-de, Cl-if^rd and D-nby, for all that has been
done of that kind. They found a parliament full of
lewd young men chofen by a furious people in fpite
to the Puritans, whofe feverity had diftafled them.
The weakeft of all minifters had wit enough to
landerftand that fuch as thefe might be eafily deluded,

corrupted.

3So DISCOURSES Chap. III.

corrupted, or bribed. Some were fond of their
feats in parliament, and delighted to domineer over
their neighbours by continuing in them : others
prefer'd the cajoleries of the court before the honour
of performing their duty to the country that employ 'd
them. Some fought to relieve their ruined for-
tunes, and were moll forward to give the king a vaft
revenue, that from thence they might receive penfi-
ons : others were glad of a temporary protedion
againfl their creditors. Many knew not what they
did when they annulled the triennial ad:, voted the
militia to be in the king, gave him the excife,
cuftoms and chimney-money, made the ad: for
corporations, by which the greateft part of the
nation was brought under the power of the worft men
in it ; drunk or fober pafs'd the five mile ad, and
that for uniformity in the church. This emboldened
the court to think of making parliaments to be the
inflruments of our flavery, which had in all ages
paft been the firmeft pillars of our liberty. There
might have been perhaps a poffibility of preventing
this pernicious mifchief in the conftitution of our
government. But our brave anceftors could never
think their pofterity would degenerate into fuch
bafenefs to fell themfelves and their country :
but how great foever the danger may be, 'tis lefs
than to put all into the hands of one man and
his minifters : the hazard of being ruin'd by thofe
who mull perifh with us, is not fo much to be -
feared, as by one who may enrich and ftrengthen
himfelf„by our dellrudion. 'Tis better to de-
pend upon thofe who are under a poffibility of
being again corrupted, than upon one who applies
himfelf to corrupt them, becaufe he cannot other-
wife accomplifn his defigns. It v/ere to be wiflied

that

Seft. 46. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 38 1

that our fecurity were more certain ; but tliis being,
under God, the bell: anchor we have, it deferves
to be preferved with all care, till one of a more
unqueftionable ftrength be framed by the confent of
the nation,

SECT. XLVL

The coercive power of the law proceeds jrom the

authority of parliament,

A V I N G proved that proclamations are not

laws, and that the legillative power, which

is arbitrary, is trufted only in the hands of thofe
who are bound to obey the laws that are made, 'tis
not hard to difcover what it is that gives the power
of law to the fandions under v/hich we live. Our
author tells us, that '' all ftatutes or laws are made
properly by the king alone, at the rogation of the
people, as his majefty king James of happy
memory affirms in his true law of free monarchy;
'^ and as Hooker teaches us, that laws do not take
their conftraining power from the quality of iiich
as devife them, but from the power that giveth
*' them the ftrength of law." But if the rogation of
the people be necefTary, that cannot be a law which
proceeds not from their rogation : the power there-
fore is not alone in the king ; for a moft important
part is confefled to be in the people. And as none
could be in them, if our author's propofition, or
the principles upon which it is grounded were true,
the , acknowledgement of fuch a part to be in tlie
people {hews them to be falfe, For if the king
had all in himfelf, none could participate with him :
if any do participate, he hath not all ; and 'tis
from that law by which they do participate, that

we

<c

cc

S^2 DISCOURSES Chap. IIL

we are to know what part is left to him. The pre-
ambles of moft a6ts of parliaments manifefi: this by
the words, " Be it enadled by the lords fpiritualand
*' temporal, and commons in parliament aflembled,
*' and by authority of the fame." But king
James, fays Filmer, '' in his law of free monarchy
" affirms the contrary ;" and it may be fo, yet that
is nothing to us. No man doubts that he defired it
might be fo in England : but it does not from thence
appear that it is fo. The law of a free monarchy is
nothing to us ; for that monarchy is not free which
IS regulated by a law not to be broken without the
guilt of perjury, as he himfelf confefTed in relation
to ours. As to the words cited from Hooker *,
I can find no hurt in them. To draw up the form
of a good law, is a matter of invention and judg-
ment, but it receives the force of a law from the
power that enafts it. We have no other reafon for
the payment of excife or cuftoms, than that the par-
liament has granted thofe revenues to the king to de-
fray the public charges. Whatever therefore king
James was pleafed to fay in his books, or in thofe
written for him, we do not fo much as know that
the killing of a king is treafon, or to be punifhed
with death, other wife than as it is enafted by par-
liament J and it was not always fo : for in the time of
Etlielftan -j-, the eftimates of lives wxre agreed in
parliament, and that of a king valued at thirty
thoufand Thrymf^. And if that law had not been
altered by the parliament, it muft have been in force
at this day. It had been in vain for a king to fay he
w^ould have it other wife ; for he is not created to
make laws, but to govern according to fuch as are

* Speech in ftar chamber, i6i,6.
f Leg, yEthclilani, fol. i j,

made^

Sea:.46. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, 383

made, and fworn to aflent to " fuch as fliall be
** propofed *." He who thinks the crown not worth
accepting on thefe conditions, may refufe it. The
words ^* Le roy le veut," are only a pattern of the
French fafliions, upon which fome kings have laid
great (Irefs, and would no doubt have been glad to
introduce ** Car tel eft noftre plaiiir 5" but that may
prove a difficult matter. Nay in France itfelf, where
that ftile, and all the ranting expreffions that pleafe
the vaineft of men, are in mode, no edift has the
power of a law, till it be regiftred in parliament.
This is not a mere ceremony as fome pretend, but all
that is elTential to a law. Nothing has been more
common than for thofe parliaments to refufe edids
fent to them by the king. When John Chaftel had,
at the inftigation of the Jefuits, ftabb'd Henry the
fourth in the mouth, and that order had defigned or
executed many other execrable crimes, they were
banifhed out of the kingdom by an arret of the
parliament of Paris. Some other parliaments regiftred
the fame -, but thofe of Tholoufe and Bordeaux
abfolutely refufed, and notwithftanding all that the
king could do, the Jefuits continued at Tournon and
many other places vvdthin their precindls, till the arret
was revoked. Thefe proceedings are fo difpleafing
to the court, that the moft violent ways have been
often ufed to abolifti them. About the year 1 650 -f-,
Seguier then chancellor of France was fent with a
great number of foldiers to oblige the parliament of
Paris to pafs fome edidls upon which they had
hefitated : but he was fo far from accompliftiing
his defign, that the people rofe againft him, and he
thought himfelf happy that he efcaped with his life.
If the parliam.ents do not in all parts of the king-
dom continue in the liberty of approving or rejeding

* Qiias valgus elegerit. f A4cm, de L. R. F.

all

384 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

all edlds, the law is not altered, but oppreffcd by
the violence of the fvvord : and the prince of Conde
who was principally employ'd to do that work,
may, as I fuppofe, have had leifure to refled: upon
thofe actions, and cannot but find reafon to conclude,
that his excellent valour and condufl: was ufed in a
moft noble exploit, equally beneficial to his country
and himfelf. Hov/ever, thofe v/ho are fkilled in the
laws of that nation do ftill affirm, that all public
ads which are not duly examined and regiftred, are
void in themfelves, and can be of no force lonp-er
than the miferable people lies under the violence of
oppreffion ; which is all that could reafonably be faid,
if a pirate had the fame power over them. But
whether the French have v/illingly offered their ears
to' be bor'd, or have been fubdued by force, it con-
cerns us not. Our liberties depend not upon their
will, virtue, or fortune : how wretched and fhame-
ful foever their flavery may be, the evil is only to
themfelves. We are to confider no human laws but
our own; and if we have the fpirit of our anceflors
we fliall maintain them, and die as free as they left
us. " Le roy le veut," tho' written in great letters,
or pronounced in the mofl tragical mianner, can
fignify no more than that the king in performance of
his oath does aflent to fiich laws as the lords and
commons have agreed. Without prejudice to them-
felves and their liberties, a people may fuffer the
king to advife with his council upon v/hat they
propofe. Two eyes fee more than one, and human
iudgment is fubjedt to errors. Tho' the parliament
con fife of the mofl: eminent men of the nation, yet
when they intend eood, thev mav be miftaken.
They may fafely put a check upon themfelves,
that they may fartlier confider the moft important

J . matters.

Sea. 46. CONERNING GOVERNMENT. 385

matters, and corredl ihe errors that may have been
committed^ if the king's council do difcover them :
but he can fpcak only by the advice of his council ;
and every man of them is with his head to anfv^er for
the advices he gives. If the parliament has not been
fatisiied with the reafons given againft any law that
they offer'd, it has frequently pafs'dj and if they
have been fatisfied, 'twas not the king-, but they that
laid it afide. He that is of another opinion, m.ay
try whether " Le roy le veut" can give the force of
a law to any thing conceived by the king, his council,
or any other than the parliament. But if no W'ife
man will affirm that he can do it, or deny that by
his oath he is obliged to aflent to thofe that come
from them, he can neither have the legifiative
power in himfelf, nor any other part in it than what
is neceffarily to be performed by him, ds the law
prefcribes.

I know not what our author means by faying,
" Le roy le veut is the interpretative phrafe pro-
" nounced at the paffing of every a6l of parlia-
^' ment :" for if there be difficulty in any of them,,
thofe W'ords do no way remove it. But the folio w^-
ing part of the paragraph better defervcs to be ob-
ferved. " It v^^as, fays he, the antient cuftom for
a long time, until the days of Henry the fifth,
for the kings when any bill was brought to them
that had paffed both houfes, to take and pick out
what they liked not ; and fo much as they chofe
*' was enadted as a law : but the cuflom of the lat-
*^ ter kings hath been fo gracious, as to allow al-
*' ways of the intire bill as it paiTed both houfes."
He judicioufly obferves v^hen our kings began to be
gracious, and we to be free. That king excepting
the perfecution for religion ii his time, which is ra-
ther to be imputed to the ignorance of that age.
Vol. II. C c than

cc

(C
( c

5^6 DISCOURSES Chap. III.

than to any evil in his own nature) governed v^ell ;
and as all princes v^ho have been virtuous and brave
have always defired to preferve their fubjedls liberty,
which they knew to be the mother and nurfe of
their valour, fitting them for great and generous en-
terprlzes, his care was to pleafe them, and to raife
their fpirits. But about the fame time, thofe de-
teftable arts by which the mixed monarchies in this
part of the world have been every where terribly
fhaken, and in many places totally overthrown, be-
gan to be pradifed. Charles the feventh of France,
under pretence of carrying on a war againft him and
his fon, took upon him to raife money by his own
authority, and we know how well that method has
been purfued. The mifchievous fagacity of his fon
Lev/is the eleventh, which is now called king-craft,
was wholly exerted in the fubverlion of the laws of
France, and the nobility that fupported them. His
fucceffors, except only Lewis the twelfth, followed
his example ; and in other nations, Ferdinand of
Arragon, James the third of Scotland, and Henry
the feventh of England, were thought to imitate
him the moft. Tlio' we have little reafon to com-
mend all the princes that preceded Henry the fifth;
yet I am inclined to date the general impairing of
our government from the death of that king, and
his valiant brothers. His weak fon became a prey
to a furious French woman, who brought the max-
ims of her own country into ours, and advanced the
worft of villains to govern according to them. Thefe
meafures were purfued by Edward the fourth,
whofe wants contraded by prodigality and debauch-
ery, were to be fupplled by fraud and rapine. The
ambition, cruelty and perfidioufnefs of Richard the
third ; the covetoufnefs and malicious fubtilty of
Henry the fcventh j the violent lufl, rage and pride

of

Sea. 4^. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 387

of Henry the eighth, and the bigotted fury of queen
Mary^ inftigated by the craft and malice of Spain,
perfuaded me to believe that the Englifli liberty did
not receive birth or growth from the favour and
goodnefs of their gracious princes. But it feems all
this is miftaken -, Henry the fixth v^as wife, valiant,
and no way guided by his wife > Edward the fourth
continent, fober, and contented with whkt the na-
tion gave him ; Richard the third mild, gentle and
faithful; Henry the feventh fincere, and fatisfied
with his own ; Henry the eighth humble, temperate
and juft ; and queen Mary a friend to our country
and religion. No lefs praifes fure can be due to
thofe who were fo gracious to recede from their
own right of picking what they pleafed out of our
laws, and to leave them intirely to us as they paffed
both houfes. We are beholden to our author for
the difcovery of thefe myfleries : but tho' he feems
to have taken an oath like that of the gypiies when
they enter into that virtuous fociety, never to fpeak
one v/ord of truth, he is not fo fubtle in concealing
his lies. All kings were trufled with the publica-
tion of the lav/s, but all kings did not falfify them.
Such as were not wricked and vicious, or fo weak as
to be made fubfervient to the malice of their mi-
niilers and flatterers, could never be drawn into the
guilt of fo infamous a cheat, directly contrary to
the oath of their coronation. They fwear to pafs
fuch '' laws * as the people choofe /' but if we will
believe our author, they might have pick'd out
whatever they pleafed, and falfly impofed upon the
nation, as a law made by the lords and commons,
that which they had modelled according to their
own will, and made to be different from, or con-
trary to the intention of the parliament. The king's

* Q^as vulgus elegerit.

C c 2 part

3SS DISCOURSES Chap. 111.

part in this fraud (of which he boafts) was little more
than might have been done by the fpeaker or his
clerks. They might have faliified an adl as well as
the king, tho' they could not fo well preferve them-
felves from puniiliment. Tis no wonder if for a
while no flop was put to fuch an abominable cuftom.
'Twas hard to think a king would be guilty of a
frauds that were infamous in a (lave : but that prov-
ed to be a fmall feeuritv, when the word of flaves
came to govern them, Neverthelefs 'tis probable
they proceeded cautiouily : the firft alterations were
perhaps innocent, or, it may be, for the beft. But
when they had once found out the way, they ftuck
at nothing that leemed for their purpofe. This Vv^as
like the plague of leprofy, that could not be cured ^
the houfe infe&d was to be demolifhed 3 the poi-
fonous plant muft be torn up by the root ; the truft
that had been broken was to be abolifhed ; they who
had perverted or fruilrated the law, were no longer
to be fa ffered to make the leaft alteration ; and that
brave prince readily joined with his people to extin-
guiih the mifchievous abufe that had been introduc-
ed by fome of his worthlefs predeceffors. The worft
and bafeft of them had continual difputes with their
parliaments, and thought that v/hatever they could
detract from the liberty of the nation, would ferve
to advance their prerogative. They delighted in
frauds, and Vv^ould have no other minifters but fuch
as would be the indruments of them. Since their
word could not be made to pafs for a law, they en-
deavoured to impofe their own or their fervants in-
ventions as a6ts of parliaments, upon the deluded
people, and to make the belt of them fubfervient to
their corrupt ends and pernicious counfels. This, if
it had continued, might have overthrown all our
rights, and deprived us of ar-1 that men call good in

the

Sea. 44. CONCERNING GOVERNMENT. 389 *

the world. But the providence of God furniihed our
anceftors with an opportunity of providing againft fo
great, fo univerfal a mifchief. Tiiey had a wife and
valiant prince, who icorned to encroach upon the
liberties of his fubjecfts, and abhorred the detefiable
arts by which they had been impaired. He efteeni-
ed their courage, ftrength, and love, to be his great-
eft advantage, riches and glory. He aimed at the
conqueft of France, which was only to be effedled
by the bravery of a free and well-fatisfied people.
Slaves will always be cowards, and enemies to their
mafter : by bringing his fubjedts into that condition,
he muft infallibly have ruined his own defigns, and
made them unfit to fight either for him or them-
felves. He de fired not only that his people fliould
be free during his time, but that his fuccefibrs fhould
not be able by oblique and fraudulent ways to
enflave them. If it be a reproach to us that women
have reigned over us, 'tis much more to the princes
that fucceeded our Henry, that none of them did fo
much imitate him in his government as queen Eliza-
beth. She did not go about to mangle adts of par-
liament, and to pick out what might ferve her turn,
but frequently pafl!ed forty or fifty in a feflion, with-
out reading one of them. She knew that fhe did
not reign for her felf, but for her people 3 that what
was good for thenijWas either goodfor her, or that her
good ought not to come into competition with that
of the whole nation ; and that fhe was by oath ob-
liged to pafs fuch laws as were prefented to her on
their behalf This not only fliews that there is no fuch
thing as a legiflative power placed in kings by the
laws of God and nature, but that nations have it
in themfelves. It was not by law nor by right, but
by ufurpation, fraud and perjury that fome kings
took upon thern to pick what they pleafed out of

C c 3 the

300 DISCOURSES Chap. TIL

the public adls. Henry the fifth did not grant us
the right of making our own laws 5 but with his
approbation we abolifhed a deteftable abufe that
plight have proved fatal to us. And if we examine
our hiftory we ihall find, that every good and ge-
nerous prince has fought to eftablifh our liberties, as
n-iuch as the moft bafe and wicked to infringe them-

THE END,

A N

ALPHABETICAL

rr^

FABLE

#

The Letters refer to the Volume^ ao4 the Figures to the Page.

A.

AARO Ny vid. Mofesp
Abdication^ Camillas the dic-
tator obllg'd to abdicate his
magiftracy, i. 452.
^rahanty and tke patriarchs not kings,

'• i7> 33- .
Could never exercife a regal power, i. 32.

Liv'd with Lot in perfed freedom, i.

132.
^brogatioTiy where a perfon abrogates the

magiftracy, i. 176, 316, 319.
God declar'd Saul's kingdom to be in-

tirelv abrogated, ii. 18.
A whole people, or part of them, may

at their own Pleafure abrogate a king-
dom, ii. 19.
What is faid to be fo, ii. 121.
Kcne can abrogate the law of God, ii,

178, 180.
^falom, his (revolt, ii. 22, 24,
jibjdute power and monarchy, out in its

firft beginning, i. 31, 78.
Of France and Turky, i. 78, 127,

217, 278, 280. ii. J85.
Burdenfom and dangerous, i, 123.
Who fit fubje£ts for it, i. 168, 262,

273, 276.
Scarce ever conquer'd a free people, i.

186, 199, 280, 292.
Who advocates for it, i, 188, 230.
Nothing more mutable, or unftable, i.

189, 195.
Can't bereftrain'd by law, i, 195, 266,

269, 273.
Where it fhould be of more flrength

than the limited, i, 197,

The fad effefts of it, i, 119, 331, 375,

376, 377. ii. 185, 188, 363, 364.
Rome decay'd, and perifh'd under it,

i. 222.
The root and foundation of it, i. 238,

264, 267.
Not eftablifli'd among the Greeks by

law, i. 248,
Encourages venality and corruption, u

262, 263, 361.
Advances the worft of men, i. 266, 268,

270, 327.
In what fenfe moft contrary to nature,

i. 272.
By whom only to be endur'd, i. 276,

ii. 185.
The people under it always miferable, u

i7?> 303* 30^> 360.
All things manag'd by one, or a very

few men, i. 281.

Seems totally to be exempted from miff-
takes, and why, i. 310.

Almoft all troubles arifing in them, pro-
ceed from malice, i. 311.

Sedition moft frequently in, and natural
to them, i, 326, 330, 347, 350,

35^'
By what means this arbitrary power is

fet up, i. 327, 359^

Few or none long fubfift under it, i. 342.

Where it cannot be introduc'd, i. 363.

Integrity not to be found therein, i. 370,

What care fuch monarchs have for their
people, i. 385, 386.

Their chief labour is to be above th?
law, i. 414*
/^bjolute power, no foclety can be efta-
bUfh'd, or fubfift without it Some-
where, ii, 376.

■ C c ^ Nevei

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Kever well plac'd in men and their fuc y^hah^ growing fick on NabotH^s refufine

ceifors, if not cblig'd to obey the
laws that {hould be made, il. 378.

jihtijes in government, when never to be
reform'd, i. 399.

j^ccounty to whom the people of Rome
were to give theirs, i. 63.

^ccufers, vid. falfe witnefles.

^ccjuifition , what right can be pretended
from it, ii. 282.

^^s of Parlisment, till the days of Henry
V. for the moft part were pen'd by
the king's officers, jl. 235, 385.
Vid. Statutes.

jSdam, his fin, what, j. 6.
His kingdom, i. 2S.
Had only an oeconomical, not a po-
litical power, i. 129.

Adoption, wherein the tolly of it, i. 87,
89, 90, 92.
What may be call'd (o improperly, i,

87, 89.
Jacob adopted Ephraim and ManafTeb,
i. 126.

him his vineyard, ii. 50.
When his houfe was to be cut off, ii.
340.
Alexander of Macedon, thought to be
meant by Ariftotle for the man fram'd
by nature for a king, i. io8, 113,

.'93-
His extravagant frolicks, 1. 193.

His fortune overthrew his virtue, i. 193,

199. ii. 337.
His reign full of confprracles, i. 331.
After his death the kingdom fell all to

pieces, i. 241,
It is thought he dy*d by poifonj i. 24?,

381.
Alexander of Epirus, in valour thought

equal, in power little inferior to him,

i. 304.
Alfred, Magna Charta grounded upon his

laws, i. iS.
Acknowledge he found and left this

kingdom perfedly free, ii. 292.
Alienation^ vid. Dominion,

Advancements, ought ever to be for the Allegiance, is fuch an obedience as the law
fake of the publick, not of the Man,
i. 113.
Have oftentimes made people worfe, ii.

Ill, 112.

Adveijary, who a vitious prince reckons
fuch, i. 387.

requires, ii. 250, 303.
Cannot rel.iPe to a whoe nation, ii. 303.
Alliances, \. 143, 216, 38 1.
All things in thtir beginning are weak, i,

,297.
Change by length oi time, 1. 506.

Adultery, became as common in Sparta, as Altar, the horns of it no pretention to

jn any part of the world, and why,

ii. 4.
Cannot be difpens'd withal, even by the

pope himfelf, ii. 272.
AffiEiions cf the people, the prince's moft

important treafure, i. 439.
Agefilausy his great atchievements, i. 19S,

249.
His denial of Artaxerxes to be greater

than He, ii. 49.
Xenoplion's great chara£ler of him, and

for wiiatj ii. 86.
Agreements, the treachery cf violating them

aggravated by perjury, i. 321.

vid. ContraHs.
Made: by king John of France, when

prifoner at London, and Francis under

the fame circumftincesat Madiid, re-
puted null, i. 424.
A good mjn performs them tho' he is a

lofer by the bargain, ii. 143.
The neceility of ftanding to them from

religion, and the law of nature, ii.

Between princes confirm'd afterwards by

parliaments, fefj. ii. 353.
ripp'i (Menenius) appeas'd one of the

moft violent feditions at Rome, and

iiovy, i. 310.

wilful murderers, ii 84,
Ambajfadors, from whence kings have their

right of fending. them, ii. 267, 353.
Charles Guflavus, his excellent faying

to one, ii. 277.
From the Piivernates, their brave and

refolute anfwer to Plautius the confui,

when they were fuing for a peace, ii;

302.
From the eftates of Scotland, to Q^

Eliz. ii. 341,
Ambition, honeft and wife men expofe the

folly of it, i. 90, 123.
Can never give a right to any over the

liberties of a whole nation, i. 144,
Tends to publick ruin, i. 247.
Is the overthrow of flates and empires,

i. 263, 265.
Man naturally prone to it, 1. 266.
What it prompts to, i. 336.
Has produc'd more mifchiefs than any
' other defires and palTions, i. 342, 350,

353. 359-
St. Ambrose, feems to have no knowledge

of the gothick polity, ii. 68.

A/iceJiors, what we ought to do, if we will

be juft to them, ii. 314, 389.

Never thought their posterity would fo

degenerate, as to fell themfelves and

Vijeir country, ii. 380.

By

An Alphabetical TABLE.

By exerting their vigor we fliall maintain

our laws, ii. 384..
jln^li, or Saxons ; Ticitus his defcriptlon

of their coming hither, and that they

had the root of power and liberty in

themfelves, ii. 244.
AntiocbuSf his vain boaft to deftroy Greece

and Italy, i. 199.
How foon he loft all he pofleft in Greece,

&c. i. 283.
j^pojiki, what their work was in relation

to the civil ftate, i. 326. ii. 90, 94,

99-

Appanages, in_France to the king's bro-
thers, produc'd very bad effefts, i.

242.
Or xo their fons, but they remain ft ill

fubjeft to the crown, i. 427. ii. 161.
Appeals, the right of them to the people,

i. ail, 212, 220, 234, 257, 321.

ii. S5, 114.
None from parliamentary decrees, i. 317,
To whom they were made when there

was in Rome no fuperior magiftrate in

being, ii. 114.
No pardoning a Man condemn'd upon

one, ii. 356.
An inftance of it, ii. 357.
Arcana imperii, how to be meddled with,

i. 12, 13, I4«
Ar-ians, as cruel as the Pagans, 5. 194,
Ariftocracy, what, i. 38. ii. 130.
For whom befl, i. 107.
How fet up, i. 116.
Was the Jewi/h government, i, 170,

"Who patrons for it, i. 276.

The Lacedemonians for it, i. 433.

Whether it feems eftablifli'd by nature,
ii. 202.
Ariftotle, flighted by Filmer, i. 20.

Commendation of him, i. IC2, 1S3.

His notion of civil focieties, i. 105, 107,
112, 113, 122, 169, 416.

Who he thought was fram'd by na-
ture for a king, i. 108, 113, 192.

Wherein he highly applauds monarchy,
i. 183, 1S4.

Thinks the firft monarchs were but little
reilrain'd, becaufe they were chofea
for their virtue, i. 419.

His didinftion between a king and a
tyrant, ii. 50. 2CI.

Who, he fays, are govern'd by God,
rather than by men, :i. 123, 124.

Proves that no man is entrufted with an
abfolute power, li. 201.
Armies, of the eaft and weft, fet up em-
perors for themfelves, j. 206.

Put of what fcrt of men they arc tp be
form'c, i. 303.
yid. r.ircer.ary wd foldiery.

ArmirJus, kill'd for aiming at a crown,
which blemifh'd all his other virtues,
ii. 100, 243.
Arms, thofe juft and pious that are necef-
fary, and thofe neccffary, when there
was no hope of fifety by any other
way, li. 342.
Artaxetxes, and his army overthrown bv
the valor of loooo Gredans, i, 197,
198.
Artificer ^ what fort of one he is to whom

implicit faith is due, i. 12.
Ajfemblies, that took their authority from
the law of nature, confider'd, i. 141.
General of the people, i, 175, 176,
178.

The ufe of them, i. 195. ij. 246.
Of the eftates in France, brought now

to nothing, i. 243.
Settled the crown on Pepin, i. 348,
What they ought to fee perform'd, i.

42S.
Had the power always of the whole

people in them, ii. 73.
In them none judge for themfelves,

ii. 116.
The greateft truft that can be was

ever repos'd in them, ii. 238.
InconGftent with the abfolute fovc-

rejgnty of kings, ii. 250.
Refus'd giving fupplies to their kings
in Spain and France, without orders
from their principals, ii. 372, 373,
AJfyrians, vid. Eajiern nations.

That empire wholly abolifh'd on the

death of Belfhazzar, i. 191.
Their valor irrefiftible under Nebuchad-
nezzar, i. 299.
Little more known of them than from
fcripture, i. 334.
Athaliah, more ready to cry out treafon
than David, i. 313. Deftroy'd the
king's race, and by whom herfelf was
kill'd, i. 530. vid. ^een.
Athens, its government not fo much ap-
prov'd as that of Sparta, i. 249,
Banifh'd fome worthy men, and put

others to death, i. z^^o.
The cruelty of the thirty tyrants there,

i. 251.
As much indin'd to war as Rome, i.

287.
The thirty tyrants deftroy'd by Thrafy-

bulus, i. 315.
Their Oftracifm proceeded folely from

fear, i. 412.
Was not without laws when ihe had
kings, ii. 109.
At}Jetickhz\>\t., what, i. 214, 215, 2^1.
Attilii, call'd the fcourge of God, and glo-

ry'd in the name, ii. 132.
Avar ice f the evil effedts of it, i, 19 t.

AugufluS

An Alpbabetical TABLE.

jSu^uflut, Rome's longeft peace under his
" reign, i. 219, 331,
"What h-ippen'd in it, i. 224.
"Was worie in the beginning than latter

end of his reign, i. 226.
Had thiity mercenary legions to execute

his commands, ii. 206,
Whether he truly deferv'd to be call'd

the head of the Romans, ii. 331.
The name of Augullus is a title belong-
ing to the German emperor at this

day, ii. 285.
/lufiria. Spain after many revolutions came

to this, i. 306.
Princes of this houfe pretend to know

their original, ii. 152.
The German empire came to Rodolphus

of this name about 300 Years ago,

ii. 154.
"What claim this houfe has to the crown

of France, ii. 163, 270.
^utberi of great revolutions, their aims,

i. 263.
Axioms in law, are evident to common

fenfe, and nothing to be taken lor one

that is not (o, ii. 222.

B

6.

yJbeh vid. nation .

Babylonian kings, what right is pre-
tended to be in them, i, 54, 55.

Monarchy rul'd by force, the ftronger
turning out the weaker, i. T90.

How its pride fell, i. 203.

Little more known of its monarchy
than from fcripture, i. 334.

Babylon and Sula trembled at the
motion of the Grecian arms, i.

373-
There were a people there before

Nimrod was king, ii. 207, 20S.
Bahrce of power, where and how it is
broken, i. 438. ii. 311, 312.
Nations have (ufFL-r'd extremely thro'
want of this prudence in rig'.tly ba-
lancing, &V. ii, 338.
In wh.it manner power fhould be bi-
lanc'd for the advantage and fervice
rf the ftate, ii. 361.
Bar.ijhmentf not above 5 or 6 men fuf-
fer'd unjullly in the Romsn govern-
ment, in the fpace of about 300
* years, i. 211, 215, 254.
The temporary of that Athenians never

accounted as a puniiTiment, i. 250.
Camillas recalPd from it, and afterwards
honsur'd, i. 252.
Barbarorum regna, i. 416.
BarWy the extent of the name, ii. 254,

255, 260.
BarBTifigiuv7f what, i< 14Q. ii, 253, 455.

Barthokmew de las Cafas, (a SpanT(h bi-
fliop) his admirable faying concerning
the office of a king, i. 68.

Baffompierre, his faying about Rochel, 1,

397.
Baftardsy thpfe children can inherit no-
thing, i. 156.
Dedar'd with relation to crowns, i. 160,
Advanced before legitimate brethren, i.
236. 237. ii. 158, 159, 162, 279.
In fome places wholly excluded, i. 340.
Beggars of a king to Samuel, fuch as would
not be deny'd, i. 180.
Parliaments no beggars, ii. 140, 141,
Belial, who his fons, i. 183.
Bellarmine's tenents, i. 7, 9, 20, 21, 24,

. -5» 37-
Benjamites, how they proceeded in prepar-
ing for their defence, i. 178,
Bejl men, content with a due liberty under
the protedion of a juft law, i. 273,
274. ii. 172, 174.
Have ever been againft abfolute monar-
chy, i. 277.
Defpis'd, hated end mark'd out for de«

ftruftion, i. 395. ii. 175.
Have their affeftions and paflions, and
are fubjeft to be mifled by them, i,
4t6. ii. 196.
Were fo efleem'd who deftroy'd tyranny,

ii. 54.
Whom they had need to fear, ii. 81.
Can never wholly diveft themfelves of
paflions and affe£lions, ii. 215.
Birtk-n'gbt, gives no right to fovereign
dominion, i. 149.
Some have been accus'd of fuppofititious
births, ii. 168.
Bijbops, the king's power in making them,
i. 382.
What words of fervitude are faid to be
introduc'd by them among us, ii. 98.
Blake, the terror his fleet ftruck every

where, i. 402,
Blood, by God's law, that man's is to be
flied, who Hieds anothers, ii. 75, 76.
The neareft in blood fet afide, when
'twas thought more convenient to ad-
vance others, ii. 156, it7, 158.
Boccalwiy the princes of Europe angry
with him for his definition of a ty-
rant, vid. 1 Cent. 76. Advertife-
ment, i, 417.
Bought and fold, how places come to be (0^

J- 367^ 371.
Senates and people can't fo eafily be, i.

368* 371- ^ ^
BsurboHy Henry of that name, rnit ad-
mitted to the crown till he abjur'd his
religion, and promis'd to rule by law,

I 4^5*

An Alphabetical TABLE.

JSra^ott, hJs words, Omnes fub eo, Sc ipfe
fub nullo, &c. how to be underwood,

"• 73> 75-
What he calls Efle fub lege, ii. 112,

121.

What, he fays, the king is obJJg'd to
do by his oath, ii,229, 230.

His faying about evil, or unskilful judges,
ii. 230.
Brethren, all fo by nature, i. 44*

Nature abhors a difference in fpecie be-
tween them, i. 126.

Where a fraternal equality continu'd, u

132* 133;
Are equals, i. 149.
What advanc'd fome above the reft, i.

172, 173-
The governed {o call'd, by their ma-

giftrates, ii. 329.

Bribery, natural to courts, i. 260, 26 1,

36i» 3»3'
Seeks the largcft bidder, 1. 29S.

Can't corrupt, where virtue is prefer*d,

i- 365-
The way to prevent it, 1. 369, 370.

A noble perfon turn'd out of a confider-

able office, as a fcandal to the court,

for being an enemy to this vice, i.

3^9-
Parliaments not fo eafily to be prcvail'd

upon, ii. 376.
Britain f (hamefully loft, i. 22T.

Kings impos'd upon the Britalns by the

Romans,and to what end, ii. 10, 231.
Severe affertors of their liberties, ii. 211,

241.
Tho' they chofe commanders in their

wars, yet they kept the government

in themfelves, ii. 242.
Ever had their great councils to determine

their msft important affairs, ii. 245.
Brutus, found it dangerous to be thought

wife, and why, i. 322, 342.
Eftablifh'd liberty and the confulate to-
gether, ii. 184.
Buchanan, join'd to Doleman, 1. 7.
His character of K. James the third, i.

422.
Concerning the violation of the laws of

Scotland, ii. 119.
Burgundy, continu'd in Hugh Capet's eldeft

fon Robert, and his defcendents for

ten generations, ii. 162,

C.

C'^JEfar, of giving him his due, i. 16,
J ii. 61.

Julius fubverted all order, by invading
' the fupreme roagiftracy by force, i.

205, 241. ii. 63, 327.
^oife than Tarquin, i. 246,

By what means he fet up his tyranny, f,
261. ii. 43.
Cafar, Julius, fcarce any prince had fq
many good qualities, till they were eJt-
tinguifh'd by ambition, i. 263.
Defign'd to make himfelf a tyrant,

i. 269.
Thought all things lawful, when the
confulate was deny'd him, i. 336.
When the power of the Romaps was

expreft by this name, ii. 62.
Had a diadem offer'd him by Mar^C

Anthony, li. 97.
How obfervant he was of his word,

when taken by pyrats, ii. 142.
The ftate of the Roman empire after

his ufurpation, ii, 188.
Auguftus his power not given, but

ufurp'd, ii. 205, 206.
Julius, what account he gives of our

affairs here, ii. 210, 241.
When, if ever, fear enter'd into his
heart, ii. 242.
Cafars, never call'd kings till the 6th age
of chriftianity, ii. 284.
Julius, in defpair would have kill'd him-
felf, ii. 327.
Cam, had no dominion over his brethren
after Adam's death, i. 120.
From whence his fear (that every man
would flay him) proceeded, ii, 7.
Caligula, his wifh that the people had but
one neck, i. 20, loi, 322, 380.
ii. 332.
A moijfter of mankind, i. 53. ii. 116.
His making love to the moon, J. 86.
His expedition, when he faid, he had

fubdu'd the fea, i. 221.
Valerius Afiaticus appeas'd the guards,
by faying, he wi/h'd he had been the
man had kill'd him, i. 32?. ii. 117.
Murder'd by his own guards, i. 332.
Affeded the title of being call'd God,
which Claudius Caefar calls Turpenn
caii infaniam, i, 411.
vid. ii. 97.
Whofe minifier he might be faid to be,

ii. 91.
Saidof him, that no man ever knew a bet-
ter fervant,nor a worfe mafter, ii. lo2.
Wherein he plac'd his fovereign majefly,
ii. 189.
Calvin, his opinion of the government in-

ftituted by God, i. 170, 176.
Camden, his credit forfeited by a gr?at

number of untruths, ii. 252.
Ca,tnpus Martini, was the land that be-
long'd to the kings of Rome (noc
above ten acres) afterwards confecrat-
ed to Mars, ii. 49.
Cardinals, the refpeft piid them, who have
the power of chufinj popes, i. 128.

Carthage,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Carthage, how ffie grew to that excefs of
power that only Rome was able to
overthrow, i. 230, 290.
One of the moft potent cities in the
world, i. 291.
Cajiile, the lords thereof had no other title
for many ages than that of Count,
which was afterwards chjng'd to that
of king, without any addition to the
power, ii. 286.
Concerning the ftates thereof erring, ii,
322.
Catifine, his temper, i. 232.

One of the lewdcft men in the world,
i. 261.
CeJJet ProccJfuSy faid to be annex'd to the '

perfon of the king, ii. 355.
Ceylon, an ifland in the Eaft-Indies, where
the king knows no law but his own
will, ii. 364.
Change, of government, no proof of ir-
regularity or prejudice to it, by thofc
that have right, i. 209, 247.
Nothing found more orderly, i. 236.
A mortal one in root and principle, u

241.
In government unavoidable, i. 244.
"What changes deferve praife, i. 245.
Where the wifdom of it is fhewn, i.

246.
Where they are requifite fometimes, ii.

216.
What are for the worfe, ii. 312.
Chatt(r of liberty, not from men, but from
God, ii. 289.
Parliaments interpos'd their authority in
thefe matters, ii. 319.
Chatham, the city of London's dread at the
Dutch fleet's burning our fhips there,
i. 297.
Cheat of Mnrio Chigi, brother of Alex-
ander VII. upon the fale of corn^ i.
377- ji- 10."
Ct/W or children, a wife one, Eccl. 4. 13.
i. 50, 86, 166, 405. ii. 70.
Their duty is pe.petual, i. 93, 119. ii.

Of God and of the Devil, i, 97, loi.

If children then heirs, i. 125.

Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is
a child ! i. 127, 163.

On what account children are admitted
to rule, i. 164.

What underftood by the word child, i.
166.

They do not always prove like their pa-
rents, i. 370. ii. 120.
Children, the danger of having them to be
king?, i. 406.

The law gives them relief againft the
feveritics gf their parents, ii. 9.

V/"ere punifh'd with death, and for what,
ii. 9.
Chrifiiamty, has been fplit into variety
of opinions, ever fince it was preach'd,
i. 292.
The firft profeflbrs were of the meaneft

of the people, ii. 89.
St. Paul's work was to preferve the
profeflbrs of it from errors con-
cerning the ftate, ii. 90,
Sufficiently prov'd to be antient, if
prov'd to be good and true, ii. 213.
Cities, confift of equals, i. 105, 1I2.

What makes them free, ii. 289. i

Ci'vcs, V. incolae,
Ci-vi/wsT, V. war,
Cleanthes, his philofophical reply to Arl-

flippus, about Hattery, i. 364.
^^^''gyt the veneration our anceftors had

for them, ii. 250.
ColleBori, their extortions, i. 375.
Commanders^ after the captivity, who
thought moft fit, i. 46.
Of armies, who beft to be made fo,

i. 106.
The beft among the Greeks and Ro-
mans in their times, would not
know how to manage an army now,
ii. 310, 311.
Where they have been put to death
for misbehaviour, <S?'c. ii. 320.
Commands of a mafter, how far the fer-
vant is bound to obey them, &c%
ii. 379, 380.
Commijfton, from God, what, i. 98.

They who hereby grant authority,
do always retain more than they
give, ii. 217, 373.
Ctmitia Centuriata, what, ii. 109.
Commons, whether they had a part in the
government, ii. 24S.
Always had a place in the councils

that manag'd it, ii. 250.
Many of them in antiquity and emi-
nency, little inferior to the chief
of the titular nobihty, ii. 251,
258.
The nation's ftrength and virtue in

them, ii. 258.
How all things have been brought in-
to the king's and their hand, ii,

313-
Yet never can be united to the court,

"• 3n-

Have refus'd to give their opinions in
many cafes, till they had confulted
with thofe that fent them, ii. 320.
Ccmmon-ivealths, for what end inftituted,
i. 2.
All the regular kingdoms in the
world aie fo, i. 37, 104.

Of

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Of Italy, not without valour and vir-

tue^ i. 226.
How they feek peace and war, i.

286.
Whether better to conftitute one for

war or trade, i. 290.
Another fort compos'd of many cities

afTociated together, and living aquo

jure, i. 292.
Seldom advance women, children, or

fuch like, to the fupreme power,

J- 357-
In them all men fight for themfelves,

i. 360.
When the laws are aboiiih'd, the

name alfo ceafcs, i. 360.
Lefs /laughter in thefe, than in] ab-

folute kingdoms, i. 373.
Of Greece and Italy, why call'd

nurferies of virtue, i. 37S.
Juflice very well adminifter'd in them,

ii. 79.
How they may be fav'd from ru;n.

Competitors, fovereigns do impatiently bear
them, i. 34.
Where their own fvvords have decided

their difputes, i. 312, 341.
Ccntefts between them relating to the
crown, are often very bloody, I,

344, 347, 348, 352, 353, 354>

3S5. 356, 359. 360.
Compulfion j he that will lufter himfelf to

be compel'd, knows not how to die,

i. 95.
(anqueft, what is fo call'd, i, 39, 62, 63.
William I. had the name of Con-
queror odioufly given to him, i.

145.
The extent thereof not the only thing

to be confider'^d, i. 220, 221.
Some common-wealths hereby defign'd

to enlarge their territories, i. 2S2.
Some conquerors never deferv'd the

name of ufurpers, ii. 77.
The king can't difpcfe of a conquered

country, becaufe 'tis annex'd to

the office, ii, 26S.
'Tis the people that conquer, not

any one man by his own ftrength,

ii. 282.
Confcicncey how it ought to be regulated,

ii. 94.
Conjent general, to refign part of their

liberty for the good of all, is the

voice of nature, i. 19, 39, 271.
Firft confer'd power, i, 33, 37, 62,

133' I34» 162.
Government arifes from it, i. €3,

66, 134, 146, 444, 44.7.
The right of m:!giiirates eflentially de-

pends upon it, I. T46, 147, 416*
ii. 153, 198, 209.
None to tyrannies, i. 147.
No compleat lawful power without it,

i. 1^0, 162, 277, 315.
Of the three eftates in many places

requir'd, to pafs a law, i. 434.
Whatfoevcr proceeds not from it, mud
be de fadlo only, ii. 28 3.
Ccnftantine the great, with what blood he
was polluted, i, 343, 437.
His power kept up hereditary, but
with extreme confufion and dif-
order, i. 447.
Conjiituticns of every government to whom
refer'd, i. 63.
Human fubjeft to corruption, and
therefore to be reduc'd to their firft
principles, i. 210.
Where new ones are necefiarily re-
quir'd, i. 244.
That the beft, which is attended with

the leaft inconveniencies, i. 254.
Who endeavours the fubverfion of

them, i. 274. ii. 314.
Of common-wealths various, i. 2S7.

ii. 280.
Of the northern nations that invaded

the Roman empire, i. 289.
The temper of that of tha United

Provinces, i. 294.
Good ones remain, tho' the author*

of them perifh, i. 300.
The falutary ones made by m.en, God

approves and ratifies, ii. 83.
Of a ftate aims at perpetuity, ii. 107.
Are madefor and by the people, 11.183,
What the imperfe(5tions of all human

conftitutions, ii. 215.
Our antient, has been wholly invert-
ed, ii. 257.
What are moft to be commended,' ii.

308, 336. _
Of no value, if there be not a power
to fupport them, ii. 308.
Confuls, made of Plebeians, how feldom
chofen, and with what prudence,
i. 210.
Reprefented kings, and were veftedi'
with equal power, i. 234, 238.
ii. loi, 293.
Were created after the expulGon of
Tarquin, i. 245, 437.
Conjulsy flrangers rais'd to that honour, i.
288.
. Tho' fupreme in power, yet fubjeft
to the people, i. 317, 452. ii. 46.
Marius continu'd 5 Years in the office,

i, 437.
Only for a year, i. 4t;2.
Title of dread fovereign might juftfy
have been given to them, ii. 293.

H

An Alphabetical TABLE;

Jf they grew infoknt, how they might be
reduc'd, ii. 309.
ContraBiy how fram'd between naticrrs and
their kings, ii. 14, 34, 36, 303.
Vid. judges, nations, original.
Enter'd into by princes before their in-

vediture, ii. S8.
The breaking them overthrows all fo-

cieties, ii. 141.
in writing, faid to be Invented only to

bind villains, and why, ii. 142.
All are mutual, and whoever fails of his
part difcharges the other, ii. 148.
Contran'orum contrarii eft ratio, ii. gr.
Contioverjies, with other nations, the de-
cifion of them kft to judges chofen
by mutual agreement, ii. 345.
Cofiolufius duly condemn'd by the Romans,

i. 251.

Coronation oath, i. 149, 151, 162, 163.

Norman kings oblig'd to take it, ii. 73.

How far our kings are oblig'd to obferve

137, 141, 144, 146,

:)?'

It, 11. I

147, 148, 226, 296.

Whether thofe of the king are C3?pos'(J
to punifliments, and for what> ii. 357,

385.
Council of feventy chofen men, i. 175.

God's counfels are impenetrable, i, 203,

A wife and good one cannot always fup-
ply the defe£ts, or correal the vic6s of a
young or ill-difpos'd prince, ii. 129.

Where it is of no ufe unlefs princes are
oblig'd to follow it, ii. 131.

Of Toledo, what, it made the prince to
fwear before he was plac'd in the
royal feat, ii. 165.

Of what perfons it antiently confifted,
ii. 252, 253, 318.

General, how expreft antiently by au-
thors, ii. 261.

When the boldeft are mofl: fafe, ii 340.

The king is oblig'd to adV, cqm mag-
natum & fapientum confilio, ii. 358.

He can fpeak only by their advice, and
every man of them, is with his head
to anfwer for the advice he gives, ii;
3S5-

Corporaiiotis, or bodies politick, what places Council-Table^ the proceedings and jurjf-

were thought fit by the king and

council to be made fo, ii. 318.
Corruption, natural to courts, inftances

given, i. 260, &€. 267, 361,
Of minifters in foreign courts, i. 280.
The effeft of that which proceeds from

the government in particular inftances,

i. 305. ii. 349.
Of a people tends to tyranny, i. 327.
Makes princes titles good, and how, i,

333-.
Where it certainly mod abounds, i. 360,

363, 367.

Muft always be oppos'd by free govern-
ments, and v.'hy, i. 363, 367.

The bafeft, but moft lucrative traffick,
.i. 367.

In the head, muft necefTarily difFufe it-
felf into mofl of the members of the
common-wealth, i. 36S, 399.

A jull prince that will hear his peoples

complaints himfelf, prevents it, i. 371.

Corruption^ rooted in the very principle of

ahfolute monarchy, which cannot fub-

fift without it, i. 370, 371.

Mankind naturally propenfe to it, ii. 48.

Of judgment proceeds from private paf-
fions, ii. 116.

Of members 01 parliament, ii. 379.
Cuun fellers y made choice of according co the
temper of the prince, i. 14, 388, ii,
129, 130,

Signify Httie to an abfolote monarch, i.
280, 306.

In the multitude of them generally is
fafety, ii, 321,

diflion of it regulated by 17 Car. i,
cap. X. ii. 237.
Courtiers i what things are infeparable fromf
their lives, i, 368.

Their phrafe is, To make as much pro-
fit of their places as they can, i, 368.

A wiie prince's faying to fome about him
of fuch, i. 369.

Wherein their art confifts, i. 383. ii,
360.

The modern ones by their names arri
titles, what they are apt to put us in
mind of, ii, 2.5 r.

When they fpeak moH^ truth, ii. 295.

Of Philip III. and IV. of Spain, thei^
fottifhnefs, ii. 316.
Coivards, the cruelleft of men, 5. 412.
Crown, how the Englifh became heredita-
ry, i. 156, 160.
Croivn, chang'd from one family to ano-
ther by the eftates of the realm, i.
237. V. ii. I, 2, 159, 161, 238,239.

Comprehends all that can be grateful to
the mofl violent and vit^jus, i. 335.'

Hereditary or elc£tive, it has its defcdts,
i " "o

The Spartan tranfported into nine feveraF
families, i. 420.

Of France, is from the people, i. 42 ^y

Where none would accept it, but fuch
as did not deferve it, J. 437.

Arminius flain for aiming at one, il«
100.

Of England, upon what conditions ac-
cepted, ii. 144, T45.

Five different manners of difpofing crowns
eftcem'd hereditary, ii. 149.

Of

An Alphabetical T A B L E.

Of Spain not fix'd in a line, but difposM

of as the nobility and people thought

fit, ii. 157.
Many and bloody contcfts for one, ii.

198, 298, 299.
The demeafns of it cannot be alienated,

ii. 268.
The parliament's power of giving and

taking it away, ii. 299.
Some have /ear'd the luftre of it, ii.

337. ■ . ,

He that wears it can t determine the

affairs which the law refers to the

king, ii. 352, 357.
Curioy bv corruption made an mfirument

of mifchlef, who had been an eminent

fupporter of the laws, i. 264.
Cuftom, the authority of it, as well as of

law, confjfls only in its reflltude, ii.

211, 212.
The various ones us'd in eledlion, ii.

3I7> 319-
Had its beginning and continuance from

the univerfal confent of the nation.

II.

359

Of Barnewelt, and de Wit,' i. 294,

295-
Often the reward of fuch fervices as Can't

be fufficiently valu'd, i. 342.

Of the neareft relations, regnandi caufa,

i- 345-
The bitternefs of it, how affwsg'd, i,

439-
Very few fuiTer'd in Sparta for above

800 Years, ii. 85.
Dccermjiri, only for a year, i. 240.
For two years, ii. 114.
To regulate (he law, i. 245. ii. 109,
Patricians favour'd them, i. 310.
Proceeded againft as private men, when

they continu'd beyond their time, i.

316.
Us'd with great gentlenefs, i. 359.
The Romans eahJy beaten- under them,

i. 400.
The power given to them, fine provo-

catione, was only in private cifes, ii.

114.
Why the people deHroy'd both their

power and them, ii. 114.

The reafon why we pay cuftoms, ii. Dedfton of the moft difficult matters, an

382.

D.

DAvld, the moft reverend king, had
his pofterity depriv'd, and his king-
dom at la ft came to the Afmonean
race, i. 46, 47.
Chofe and anointed king by the tribe of

Judah, i. 163. ii. 22.
Slew the fons of Rimmon, and why,
i. 163.

tiently left to the prielis in all coun-
tries, ii. 346.
In England, where made bv iadges and
juries, and where by parliaments, ii,

357,^35^-
Dij^ncs^ aii terminates in force, i. 299,
- 300.

Whether better for every man to ftard
in his own defence, than to enter in-
to focieties, J. 324.
Of one's {t\i, natural, ii. 32, 59.
Delatores, fee Roman empire, i, 204.

Not without his infirmities and punl/L- Delegated peiCons, their powers, to whom

ments, 1. 192.
David, who were his followers, notwith-

ftanding the juftice of his caufe, ii.

22. i. 329.
His atfeftion towards his people, ii. 9.
His refifting cf Saul, without afTuming

the power of a king, ii. t8, 19, 20.
How his heart fmote him when he had

cut off Saul's skirt, ii. 20.
His war with Saul, how grounded, ii.

21.

There were many rebellions againft hin),
ii. 24, 25.

refer'd, i. 137, 140, 143.
In general aflVmblies, i. 143.
How binding the adls of luch are to the

whole nation, i. 146.
Where the king ads by this power, ii.

358.
Can have no power but what is ronfer'd

on them by their principals, ii. 367.
How thofe in the United Provinces, and

in Switzerland are us'd, ii, 369.
Deputies cf Caftile, refus'd in the Cor-

tez to give Charles V. the fupplies he

defir'd, and why ii. 373«

How he fear'd men more than God, ii. Deliverers of their countries from oppi'ef-

43-
Why he commanded Solomon not to

fuffer Joab to go to the grave in peace,

ii. 84.

Wife as an angel of God, ii. 322.

Death, of no eminent Roman, except one,

for a long time, i. 211.

lions, how they have been elieem'd

in all ages, i. 15.
What gifts God beRowM on them, i.

50, 172, 1S7, 203. _
Often rewarded wiih inheritances, i. 137.
Their a«Stions carry their own juftifica-

tion, i. 325.

Citizens to be condemn'd in publick by Democracy, God faid to be the author of

the Roman law, i. 257,

It, 1. 21, 179.

Perfea,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

PctteO., what, i. 38.

For whom beft, i. 107, 176, 233.

How inftituted, i. 117.

A democratical embafTy, i. 175, 176,

Of the Hebrew government, i, 176.

Never good but in fmall towns, i. 233,
247, 248.

Pure, If it be in the world, the author
has nothing to fay to it, i. 2 6S.

"Where it would prove the moft juft, ra-
tional and natural, i. 272,

To what miftakes moft liable, i. 310.

With whom in a ftridl fenfe it can only
fuit, i. 432.
Denmark, the la ft king thereof overthrew
in one day all the laws of his country,
i. 265.

The crown elective till 1660, and then
made hereditary, ii. 153, 279.

In fome parts thereof the whole vo-
lumes of their laws may be read in
few hours, ii. 222.

The authority of their kings faid to have
been for above 3000 years, ii. 241.

Nobleman and gentleman the fame there,
ii. 255.
Depofition of princes, faid to be the doc-
trine of Rome and Geneva, i. 7.
Depofition for mifgovernment, and others
plac'd in their rooms, i. 139, 160,
236, 237, 405, 424. ii. 23, 105,
an, 317.

Kings, when deposed, lofe the right of
fending ambafladors, ii. 353.

The praflice of France and other coun-
tries, i. 160, 242, 348, 353, 40S.
ii. 15X, 159, 160, 161, 163, 258.

For religion differing from the body of
the nation, i, 160, 165, 237.

If they become enemies to their people,
i. 323.

For their ill lives, ii. 88, 89.

Of Wamba, a gothick king, who was
made a monk after he had reign'd
many years well, ii. 157.
Deffrtion^ the caufe of it, i. 280.

Common to all abfolute monarchies, i,
2S0.

Of foldiers, 5. 398, 400, 40I.
Defur Digniori, i. 48, 49, 67, 107.
D:cijtor, from whence his power arofe, i,
21 T. ii. 46.

Cfffar made himfelf perpetual, i. 217.

Made occa(ionally at the beginning, i,
240, 241, 246.

A mortal change in root and principle,
i. 241.

"Why Mamercus and others had this hon-
our, i. 252, 393.

Tho' fupreme, yet fubjeft to the people,
if they tranfgreft the law, i. 3I7;450.
ii. 294.

His power but for fix months at mofi,
i. 452. ii. loi, 114.

Camillus in his fourth di£tatorlhip threa-
ten'd with a fine, i. 452.

The commiflion that was given them,
what, ii. 278.

How high the Romans carry*d the power
and veneration due to them, ii. 294.

None ever ufurp'd a power over liberty
till the time of Sylla, ii. 305?.
Diets, vid. eftates of the realm, and par-
liaments. General aflemblies.
Difference between a lawful king and ty-
rant, i. 122, 126, 410. ii. 52, 127.

Between brethren, only in proportion,
i. 126.

Between lord and fervant in fpecie, not
in degree, i. 126.

Between men fighting for their own in-
tereft, and fuch as ferve for pay, i.
398.

Between fenates and abfolute princes, i.

445-
Difference between magiftrates to whom

obedience is due, and to whom not,

ii. 95, 97.
Between good and bad princes, is from

the obfervation or violation of the

laws of their country, ii. 106.
Diock/ians faying. Bonus, cautus, sptimu?

imperator venditur, i. 362.
What made him renounce the empire, i.

362.
Dionyfiui, his tyranny deftrcy'd by the Sy~

racufians, i. 20.
His charafter, i. 53, 384, 385.
Diogenes his faying of him, i. 38 5.
Dijcipline, the excellency of the Roman,

i. 258, 159, 284.
The like in all nations that have kept

their liberty, i. 2S5.
The effe£ts of good and bad, i. 393,

395> 397-
The excellency of the Spartan, 1. 420.

ii. 85.

Difpenfmg power, our kings have it not

beyond what the law gives them, ii, •

200.
Diffmulation, whnt, i. 4^7-
DiffJute perfons fitteft fubie(fts fur abfolute

monarchs, i. 169, 262, 327.
Abhor the dominion of the law, i. 270,

388.
DoBrine; fome by that which is falfe, poi-

fon the fprings of religion and virtue,

ii. 176.
Dominion, equally divided among all, is

univerfal liberty, i. 42.
Of the whole world can't belong to one

man, i. 73, 78.
Nor ever a nation, ever infeparably

I

united

An Alphabetical TABLE.

united to one rtian and bis family, i.

105, 126, 127, 13Z, 150.
Deeds by which the right of it is con-

fer'd, i. 162.
Ufurp'd by the ruin of the beft p^rt of

mankind, i. 261.
Of France not to be alienated, i. 427.
Every child of a parent c^n't inherit it,

i. 44.1.
How, and by whom it was confer'd, i.

442. ii. 2S6.
. Implies protedion, ii. 290.
Dominus, its fignification, i. 123.

The Romans often cali'd lords of the

world, ii. 259.
bomitiar,, his charader, i. 3S0.
Tacitus calls him an enemy to virtue,

ii. Si.
Duels in France, who only could refufe

challenges from any gentleman, ii.

..255'
JDukes of Venice, Mofcovy, &c. i. 320.

Duke, earl and vicount, the names of

offices, ii. 26S.
Where thefe names are fubjefls, and

where little lefs than fovereigns, ii.
. a86.
Duty, arifing from a benefit receiv'd, mufl

be proportionable to ic, ii, 12.
Of a magii^rate, whH, ii. Si.
Of no man to deny any one that which

is his due, much kfs to oppofe the

minifter of God in the exercife of his

office, ii. 91.
What to be expe£led from; a.ld render 'd

to them, ii. loz.

E.

EAftern nations what remarkable for, i.
168.
Force is the prevailing law with thenrt, i.

190.
Were and are ftjll under the government
of thcfe, whom all free people call
tyrants, ii. 54, 184.
Solomon's prudent advice to private per-
foDS living under the government of
thefe countries, ii. 69.
Edivard II. imprilbn'd and depos'd by his
parliament, ii. 375.
IV. his wants fupply'd by fraud and ra-
pine, ii. 3S6.
E/e^ion, moft princes chofen by the people,
i. 137, 138, 139, i49> 165.
Prov'd from fcripture inftance?, i. 139,

144, 149, 163, 164, 176. ii. 18,

21.

From examples of the Saxons, i. 144,

145. ii. S7, 88, 252, 253.
Makes a right, i. 147, loz, 163,

The various ways of elefting princes, i,

236.
Frequent chufing of magiftrates makes

nurferlei of great and able men, i,

284, 301, 390.
The prucence of eledion furpalTes the

accidents of birth, i. 303.
Of kings in France, i. 425, 426. ii.

159, 160, 161.
Of Charles Guftavus to the crown of

Sweden, ii. 277.
The various cuftcms us'd in chufing par»

liament-men, ii. 317, 318.
EhBiije kingdoms, ii. 155.
Elisiabeth, queen, her government, not

without fome mixture of blood, i,

3 57-
Ehxabeth, what power made h?r capable

of the fuccefiion, ii. 169, 273.
Her character and failings, ii. 195, 196.
The e3rl of Morton fent amb-iflador to

her by the eftatcs of Scotland, to juf-

tify their proceedings againft Q. Mary,
^ii, 341.
None fo much imitated Henry V, as fhe,

ii. 389.
Eminent, the tnoft, ought only to be ad-

vanc'd to places of publick truft and

dignity, i. 66, 67, 116, I17.
Moft obnoxious to be taken off, i. 213,

255, 256, 385.
Are moft fear'd, 1. 342, 347.
V/hen tliefe are moft impatient, i, 347,
The pillars of every ftate, i. 347,
Emperors, Roman, three or four, and at

one time thirty, who cali'd them-

felves by this name, i. 242.
Endeavour'd to make their power he-
reditary, i. 446.
The height of their regal majefty, II,

28, 29.
St. Auftin's, and Ulpian's faying, that

they were fubjedl to no law and why,

ii. 68, 193.
Some foully polluted themfelves with in-
nocent blocd, ii. 92.
The title never folemnly afTjm'd by,

nor confer'd on them, ii, 97, 98.
Theodofius confeft, it was the glory of

a good one to own himfelf bound by

law , ii. 193.
The prefent one in Cermnny, an ac-
count of him, ii. 323, 324.
Empire, grounded on the pope's donation,

i. 68.
Gain'd by violence is meer tyranny, i,

Acquir'd by virtue, can't long be fup-

ported by money, i. 206,
The calamines which the Roman fuf-

fer'd, i. 246.
Settled in Germany, i. 320,

D d Ernpire,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Etnpire, what made Dioclefian to renounce

the empire, i. 362.
Under what fort of governors it was

ruin'd, i. 39a.
Of the world divided between God and

Caefar, ii. 179, 593, 445.
Not oblig'd by any ftipulation of the

emperor without their confent,ii, 353.

been the eaufe of our late difficulties,

ii. 239.
Our fecurity, the beft anchor we have,

ought to be preferv'd with all care, ii.

381.
The general impairing of her may be

dated from the death of Henry the

fifth, ii. 3S6.

Ena^inghv/s, continu'd in the people of Epaminondat y forfeiture of his life (tho*

Rome, i. 210, 220.
Enemy of a nation, who, i. 66, 315, 378,

385-
Every man is a foldier againft him, i.

3"-
"Who the moft dangerous to fupreme ma-

giftrates, i, 324. ii. 170.
Who is fo to all that is good, i. 363.
Who is fo to virtue and religion, is an

enemy to mankind, i. 378, 383.
Thofe that know they have fuch abroad,

endeavour to get friends at home, ii.

Sycophants the worft enemies, ii. 134,

389. .

How a king declares he has none when
he comes to the crown, ii. 199.

A prince that feeks affiftance fium fo-
reign powers, is fo, ii. 332.
England, how the crown became heredita-
ry, i. 156.

fav'd) for ferving his country longer
than the time limited, i. 316.
Ephori, eftablifh'd to reftrain the power of
kings, i. 155, 420. ii. 238.

When they were created, ii. 335*
Equality f in all by nature, i. 5,9, 17, 24,
43, 44, 62, 105. ii. 202, 343.

Juft among equals, i. 105.

Civil fociety compos'd of equals, i, 118.

Leagues don't imply abfolute equality be-
tween parties, i. 163.

Where 'tis hard to preferve a civil equa-
lity, i. 214.

Popular, to what*tis an enemy, i. 328.

Of right, what is call'd liberty, i. 442.

Kings under this law with the reft of
the people, ii. 27.

Equals can't have a right over each
other, ii, 289, 345.

No nation can have an equal within it"
felf, ii. 345.

The ftate of it fince the year 1660, i. Error, all fubjeft to it, i. 215, 252, 311,

232.
How, and when the glory of our arms

was turn'd into fhame, i. 300.
How the fuccefiion of her kings has been,

^- 339» 340- iJ- 239-
Her wars with France meerly upon con*

tefts for the crown, i. 351.
Her miferics by our civil contefts, i. 354,

355-
When her reputation and power was at

a great height, i. 402.
Whether our kings were ever proprietors

of all the lands, ii. 41.
The naked condition of our anceftors

upon Cxfar's invafion, ii, 59.
Has no diftatorian power over her, ii.

63.
Ever a free nation, and chofe her own

kings, ii. 145, 262.
I\,Iade her own laws, ii. 242, 244, 263.
We know little of the flrft inhabitants,

but what is involv'd in fables and ob-

fcurity, ii. 2 TO.
The great number of our laws make

them inconvenient, ii. 222.
Wherein /he ought to be compar'd v.'ith

Rome, ii. 231.
Brave in William I's time, \vh»n /lie

faw her laws and liberties were in dan-
ger, ii. 232.
What has coft her much blood, and has

386.

Difcover'd by the difcourfe of a wife and
good man, i. 358.

By it popular governments may fome-
times hurt private perfons, i. 371.

A polite people may relinquifh thofe of
their anceftors, which they have been
guilty of in the times of their igno-
rance, ii. 222.

Would be perpetual, if no change were
admitted, ii. 216.

Where they are in government, tho' it
may be eafy for a while, yet it can-
not be lafting, ii. 378.
Ejcheat of the crown for want of an heir,

EJiates of the realm, divided the kingdom
of France, i. 426. ii. 160, 16 f,
238, 277, 278, 279.
Their power of voting, 1. 434.
Have difpofed of crowns as they pleafed,
ii. 160, l6x, 238, 277. 278, 279.
Vid. Parliaments, ajfcmblia gentral.

Evil, what is fo of itfelt, by continuance
is mjde worfe, and on the firft oppor-
tunity isjuflly robeaboli/h'd, ii. 241.

Eutrcpius, when a fl.we pick'd pockets,
^'c. but when aminifter he fold cities,
&c. i. 367.

ExcommuviLatioK denounced on the viola-
tors of magna charl.i, ii, 139.

An Alphabetical TABLE:

F.

Fj4hias Maximus, one of the greateft
and beft of men that ever Rome pio-
duc'^l^ i. 212.
Fahiuiy S^uintus, in danger of his life
for fighting without order, iho' he
gain'd a fignal viftory, ii. 294.
PaSliors about regal power and fuccefljon,
. how to be prevented, i. 341 •
The convulfions they make, i. 347,

352, ii. 313.
Of the Guelphsand Ghibehns, i. 375,

376.
Virtue and vice were made the badges of

them, i. 3S8.
Taitb^ implicit, to whom it belongs, i.

11, 12. ii. 175.
Families, none antienter than other, and

why, i. 84, 85.
What requir'd to make a compleat one,
, i. 120.
When our ancefliors fent to feek a king

in one of the meaneft of them in

Wales, i. 343.
None that does not often produce weak,

ignorant, or cruel children, ii. 104,

105. _

P'amom men for wlfdom, virtue and good

government, i. 261, 273, 301.
tiave eyes, and will always fee the way

they go, ij. 175.
Fathers, the power of fatherhood belongs

only to a father, i. 36, 38, 85, 93.
Cruel princes no fathers of their country,

i. 65. ii. 52, 53, 132, 133.
Their charafter indelible, i. 84, 93,

119.
Adoption of them abfurd, i. 87, 89,

90, 93, 94.
Who deferve the obedience due to natu-
ral parents, i. 89.
fey ufurpation, i. 98, 99, 136-
The fifth Commandment how explain'di

i. ICO.
Who has the right of fathers, i. 118,

119.
When it ceafes, i. 119, 129.
Embrace all their children alike, i. 124,

125.

There is a fort of tyrant that has no fa-
ther, ii. 132, 133.
Favourites, net always the beft of men,
i. 89, 90. _

Their influence over princes, i. 195, 196.

Whom the monarch commonly makes
fuch, i. 363.

How their exorbitant defires are gratl-
fy^d, i. 446.
Faujiina, two of them, who by their af-
ceftdency tarniffi'd the glory of Anto-

nmus Pius and Marcus Aurellus, i,'

362.
Fear, what it tranfports a wicked man to

do, i. 412.
Renders communities gentle and cau*

tious, i. 414.
Pu's people on defperatc courfes, i. 437,
What is the meafure of it to that ma-

giftrate who is the minifter of God,

ii. 86
Fear, when, if ever, faid to enter Csefai's

heart, ii. 242,
Felicity, man's, where plac'd, i. 6,
Fema^'e^, vid. ivsmtn

Excluded from all offices in the commgn-*

wealth, ii. 152.
Figurative expreffions, all have their ftrength

only from fimilitude, ii. 328
Filmer,h\i right of all kings, i. i, 170,

172, 174.
Takes the world to be the patrimony of

one man, i. 2, 3, 410.
Ufes not one argument but what is falie,

nor cites one author but whom he has

perverted or abus'd, i. 4. ii. 125,
And his partifans, why referv'd to this

age, i. 9. ii. 234.
His bufinefs is to overthrow liberty and

truth, i. II. ii. 387.
His bitter malice againft England, i. jS»
Makes God the author of democracy.

His lord paramount over children's chil-
dren to all generations, j. 26, 27, 28.

His opinion, to whom all kings are re-
puted next heirs, i. 51.

Where his kingly power efcheats on in-
dependent heads of families, i. 70,
84.

His adoption of fathers of provinces, for
what, i. 90.

His notion, That we muft regard the
power, not the means by which it is
gain'd, i. 92, 136. ii. 19, T91,

His diflinclion between eligere and In--
ftituere, i. 148, 149.

His vile abufing of the reverend Hooker,
i. 149, 16?..

His notion of begging a king, i. 174,

Abfolute rnonarchy to be thii nurlery of
virtue, i. 187.

Attributing order and ftabillty to it, i.
187, 248.

Imputing much blood/hed to Rome's
popular government, i. 214.

His backdoor, fedidon and faftion, 1.
_236,_ 239.

Hi? opinion, That the worft men iri
Rome thriv'd beft, ii. 247, 253.

Th^t the nature of all people is to de-
fire liberty without reftraint, i. 271.

Dd 3

Fi.me.-i

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Fiimsr, his cypher of the form of rplx'd go-
vernments, i. 277.

That there is a neceflity upon every
people to chufe the worft men, for
being moft hke themfelves, i. 301.

His defcription of the tumults of Rame,
i. 360.

Affirms that more men are flain in popu-
lar than abfolute governments, i. 3781

The extent of his cruelties of a tyrant,

i. 379-

His attributing ignorance and negligence

to popular governments, i. 3S9.
His notion. That the virtues and wif-

dom of a prince fupply all diftempers

of a ftate, i. 403
That there is no fuch tyranny as that of

a multitude, i. 408.
That kings mufl: be abfolute, i. 414,

4^5-
His notion of a king's ceafing to be £0,

i. 415, 43°-
His whimfy about democracy, i. 433.
That all the people's liberties flow from

the gracious conceflions of princes, i.

440. ii. 40.
That there is no coming at a king, if

he break his contraft with his people,

i. 449.
That a father of a family governs it by

no other law than his own will, ii. 3.
That patient obedience is due both to

kings and tyrants, ii, 4.
That there were kings, before any laws

were made, ii. 6.
That Abrahim, Ifaac, Jacob, and

Mofes were kings, ii. 30,
That Samuel by telling what a king

would do, infiruded the people what

they were to fuffer, ii. 31, 35.
That inconveniences and mifchiefs are

feme of the eflentials of kingly go-
vernment, ii. 38.
That all laws are the mandates of kings,

ii, 40.
His ridiculous faying, Th©fe that will

have a king, ii, 4-.
That the jews did not ask 0 tyrant of

Samuel, ii. 52.
That the people's cries are not always an

argument of their living under a ty-
rant, ii. ;4.
7'hir our Saviour limits and diftinguiilies

royal power, ii. 6t.
That the tMbute Cael'ar impoi^'d was all

their coin, ii. 64.
Cirey. Biafton, as a p3tron of the abfo-
lute power of king?, ii. 7^.
That St. Paul's higher powers meant

only a monarch tLit carries the Iword,

^f. ii, 78.

That kings are not bound by the pofitive
laws of any nation, Ii. 93, 124.

That the original of laws was to keep
the multitude in order, il. 103.

That laws were invented for every par-
ticular fubjeft to find his prince's

pleafu

re, 11. no.

That kings are above the laws, ii. 114.
Filmer, his opinion when princes degene-
rate into tyrants, ii. 119.

That tyrants and conquerors are kings
and fathers, ii. 125.

That the king fwears to obferve no laws,
but fuch as in his judgment are up-
right, &"€, ii. 135.

That kings are not oblig'd by volunta-
ry oaths, &c. ii. 241.

Hisprinciplesanimadvertedon,ii,i7i,T72i

That obedience is due to a command,
tho' contrary to law, ii. 176, 177.

That the king's prerogative to be above
the hw, is only for the good of them
that are under It, ii. 182,

His equivocal king, ii. 188.

His opinion. That the law is no better
than a tyrant, ii. 197.

That a perfe£t kingdom wherein thd
king rules by his own will, ii. 200,

That the firft power was the kingiy in
this nation, ii. 207.

That all judges receive their authority
from the king, Ii, 2.2 1,

That the power of kings can't be re-
ftrain'd by a£l of parliament, ii. 235,

That the king is the author, corredlor
and moderator of both flatute and
common law, ii. 240.

His trivial conceits about parliaments,
the time v/hen they began, (^c. ii,
240, 246, 247.

His notion about ufurpers and lawful
kings, ii. 271,

That the liberties claim'd in parliament,
are liberties of grace from the king,
and not of nature to the people, iio

That the people's language is fubm'fllve
to the king, but his is haughty to
them, Ii. 293.

That kings m^y call and difTolve par-
liaments at pleafure, ii. 314.

Admires the profound wildom of all
kings, ii, 321.

A bitter enemy to all mankind, ii. 364,

3^ I-

Hii book here lately reprinted, as an in-
troduifticn to a popifh fu:cefror, ii.

His meaning of Le roy le veut, ii. 3S1,

3S4. 3?v
Fhttcicn, what the vilefl of them dare

no: deny, i. 13.

Flatterers f

I

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Flatterers, what call'd by Tacitus, i. 427.
The Hebrew kings not without them,

i. 329.
Their pernicious advices to what end

given, i. 336.
Weak princes moft fubjeft to them,

i. 346, 362, 366, 396.
Cleanthes's faying to Ariftippus, 1. 364.
By what handle they lead their princes.

Have made their valour ridicu!ouSji.4oo.

By whom thought the beft friends, and
moft worthy of great tiufts, ii, 175.

The author's wifh, that princes would
abhor thefe wretches, ii. 250.

Almoft ever encompafs crown'd heads,
ii. 360.
Fleeti, when ours were very famous, i. 402.
Florence, the feditions there, and in Tuf-
cany, i. 375.

More depopulated now than any part of
that province, tho' formerly in a few
hours it could bring together 135000
well-arm'd men, i, 376. ii. 185.
FoUy i mankind does not univerfally com-
mit, and perpetually perfift in any, i.

72.
Some are fools at 40 years of age, i. 405,
Lord chancellor Egerton faid he did not

fit to relieve fools, ii. 143,
Force, where 'tis the only law that prevails,

i. 190.
What the Romans gain'd by the valour

of their forces, i. 222, 223.
All defence terminates therein, i. 297,

428.
Thofe that ufe it, muft perfeft their

work or periHi, i. 311.
Or fraud, in oppofition to the laws of

one's country, is abfolutely monar-
chical, i. 359.
When the Spartan kings were overthrown

by it, i. 420.
Is generally mortal to thofe that provoke

it, i. 429.
To be us'd, when there is no help in

law, i. 438. ii. 105, 340,
Can never create a right, i. 444. ii. 14,

282.
The French under a force they are not

able to refift, ii. 40, 41.
What is gain'd by it may be recover'd

the fame way, li. 153, 282.
When all difputes about right naturally

end in force, ii. 308.
Fcrfiiture of liberty, how can it be, ii.

289.
Fortune, of all things the moft variable, i.

202.
Kow right is made a flave to i^, i. 340,

341.

Fortune oi a prince, fupplys all natural de-
fers, i. 403.
France, the falick law there, 1, 81, 158,
ii. 150, 151.
Her antient kings right how confer'd
on them, and what was her antient
government, i. I55> ii. 280,
Her revenge on England for all the over-
throws fhe receiv'd from our anceftors,
i. 232.
Frequently divided into feveral patties, i,

242.
Her races of kings four times wholly
chang'd, i. 243, 344, 346, 406,

424-
The miferable condition ct her people,

i. 278, 348, 349, 400, 401. ii,

306, 383.
Her greateft advantages have been by the

miftakcn counfels of England, i. 279,

280.
Her bloody contefts and fliugh'ers for the

crnwn, i. 344, 347, 349, 351, 352.
Had ten bafe and flothful kings, call'd

Les roys faineans, i. 346, 406.
The regal power limited, i. 351, 425.
Had four kings depos'd within 150 years,

i. 350.
Civil wars frequent there, tho' not fo

cruel as formerly, i. 351.
Compar'd with Venice, i, 396,
Her iblditrs running from their colours,

i. 400.
Her general aflemblies continu'd the ex-

ercife of fhe fovereign power, long

after Lewis XFs death, i. 423, 424.
Had never any kings but ot her uao

chufing, i. 423.
Henry V. of England moft terrible to

her, i. 424.
Their laws made by themfelves, and not

impos'd on them, i. 424.
The people have underfluod their rights,

i. 426.
The reafon of the people's miferics, ii.

40, 41, 49, 51.
The right to the crown is in a great mea-

fure from the law of that country,

Inftances hereof, ii. 160, 161.
She does not allow her kings the right

of makine: a will, ii. 161.
By whom the power of conferring the

fovereignty was exeicis'd, ii. 278.
By the people's increafing the power of

their mafter, they add weight to their

own chains, ii. 306.
Her king can't be call'd the head of his

people, ana why, ii. 333.
Lc roy le veu , & tel eli notre plaifir,

are French rants ; but no edi£l there

has the power of a Lw, till it be re-

giflcr'd in pirliament, ii. 383.

D d 3 F.:::-:.,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

^rat}ce-\hs conqueftof her only to be effe£t-
ed by the bravery of a free and well
fati&fy'd people, ii. 389.
Tra^'^h ^oon incorporated themfelves witti

the Gaul?, i. 290.
Fraud, accounted a crime fo deteftable, as
not to be imputed to any but flaves,
ii. 232.
All wicked defigns have been thereby

csrry'd on, ii. ^25,
Who delight in it, and will have no
other minifters but fuch as will be the
inftruments of it, ii. 3S8.
Tre?y what nstions fo efteem'd, i.l8.ii.l84.
Vid. popular ge'verninenti.
JVIen. how to know ourfelves fuch, i.

Cermanyj the power of this emperor,!. 421,

From thence our original and govern-
ment is drawn, ii. 86.

When {he had no king, ii. 100.

The emperors thereof reftrained by laws,
ii. 105.

The Weftern empire, how it came hi-
ther, ii. 154.

Tacitus's account of the people's valour,
ii._243.

^Jot imaginable, that thefe people, jea»
lous of liberty, {hould conquer this
country to enflave themfelves, ii. 247.

No monarchy more limited, ii. 294.
Gieoniits by deceit got Joihua to make a

league with them, ii. 143.

l8, 132, 133, 181. ii 14S, 184. Cladiafors were (\ii\esy i. 215, 226.

J^ecple, fcarce ever conquered by an ab- Their fury extingui/h'd with their blood,

folute monarch, i. 186, 199. i. 226.

Philip of Mdcedoncunfefs'd his people to Cod, with an equal hand, gave to all the

be free men, i. 199. benefit of liberty, i. 22.

The Britons were fc, becaufe governed What fort of kings he approves in fcrip-

by their own laws, ii. 241, 242.

Men, or noblemen, exempt from bur-
dens, and referv'd, like arms, for the
ufes of war, ii. 257.

Free cities, what and who made them,
ii. 7%Q.
T>-ugulity, the virtues that are upheld by it,
ii. 48, / '

Fruit', of our corrupt nature, i. 169.

Own Ubour, i. 174

Kecover'd liberty, i. 236.

Victory, how gain'd and lofl, i. 300.

Always of the fame nature with the
feeds from whence they come, i. 395,

G.

GEnealogies, the Hebrews exa£l In ob-
ferving them, '• 4'j( 448.
Of princes nicely to be fearch'd into,
would be dangerous to fome crowns,

J- 73» 75» 78. >'• 282.
Of mankind very confufed, i. 72, 448.

ii. 152.
Of being the eldeft fon of the eldeft line
of Noah, i. 443.
Cencva and Rome, wherein they only can

concur, i. 7.
Censa, how ic is governed, i 234, 292.

By whom that city was in!ecl:<^d, i. 292.
Gentlemen, at this day comprehends .ill that
are raib'd above the common people,
11,254.
Gamanicus his mcdefly in refufing the em-
pire, was the occafion of h;s death,
i. 343. ii. 144-
Ce-many, h( w govein'd, i. 234. ii. 243.
iKua] to the Gauls in fortune, fo long as

Rome was free, i. 304, 305.
Thcpcwcr cf the German kings, i 421.

ture, 1. 26.
Can (ivt by few as well as by many, i,

23.

Always conftant to himfelf, i. 48. il.

^eyer prcfcrib'd any rule about dividing

tlie world, i. 75.
The fountain of juftic?, mercy and truth,

i. 97, no.
By a univerfil law gave no rule for the

making of kings, i. 148.
Is our lord by right of creation, i. i^r.
How he endow' d the rulers of his people,

i. 187.
His fecret counfels impenetrable, i. 203.
>yhat the ufual courfe of his providence,

I. 229.
Helps thofe who juflly defend themfelves,

i. 298. ^ *

His general ordinance, i. 313.
Gave laws to the Jews only, i. 338.
V hen he refus'd to bear the cries of his

people, ii. 16, 28, 36.
His anointed and accurfed, il. 21.
A law in Rome, that no God (hould be
' worfhip'd without the confent of the

fenaCe, ii. 92.
Ccci'f every one feeks their own, accord-
ing to the various motions of their

mind, i. 64, 134, 409.
The publick, the end of all government,

i. 160, ii. 5, 58, 117, T18.
Is moie obferv'd in mixt than abfolute

ones, i. 389.
Of mankind depends on religion and vir-
tue, i. 383.
C-ill'd evil, and evil good, ii. Si.
A<?iion'^ always carry a reward with them^

il. J72.

Csod

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Cood and evil, but three ways of diftin-

guiiliing betweeh them, i. 47.
Cood men, who deferve to be call'd fo, i.
«.
How they obey their princes, i. 363.

fCnow the weight of fovereign power,

and doubt their own ftrengtb, ii. 337*

Go^neft is always acconnpany'd with wif-

dom, ii. 119.
Cojpely the light of the fpiritual man, i.

382.
Cotbi, their polity, \. 234- "• 190.

For above 300 years never contrafted
marriages, nor mix'd with the Spa-
niards, i. 290.

Seiz'd Rome, whilft Honorius was look-
ing after his hens, i. 305.

Subdu'd by the Saracens in one day, i.
400.

Grew famous by the overthrow of the
Roman tyranny, ii. 68.

Concerning fuccelTion to the crown du-
ring their reign, ii. 149.

Not above four in 300 years time were
the immediate fucceffors of their fa-
thers, ii, 156.

In Spain overthrown bj the Moors, ii.
157, 348.

Their kings in Spain never ventured to
difpute with the nobility, ii. 339.

Their kingdom never reftor'd, ii. 348.
Ccrutrnment, the original principles of Jt to
be examin'd, and our own in par-
ticular, i. 12, 184.

An ordinance of God, i. 22, 25.

The feveral forms thereof left to man*s
choice, i. 22, 25, 39, 63, 64, 74,
75, 83, 116, 124, 130, 131, 134,
168, 209, 233, 268, 272, 432.

Of the lawfulnefs of ciianging it, con-
fider'd, i. 23, 209, 236. ii. 59.

Defpotical differs from the regal, i. 28,
29, 103.

The ground of all juft governments, i.
38, 258, 277. ii. 225.

No man has it either for or from him-
felf, i. 48, 164, 315, 416. li. 127.

None ever began with the paternal
power, i. 53.

To whom the conftitution of every go-
veinment is refer'd, i. 63.

AH for the good of the people and their
po{^erity, i. 97, 106, 122, 134,
164, 172, 184, 220, 268, 297,
298, 302. ii. 131, 213, 308.

Is a collation of every man's private right
into a publick flock, i. 103,104,130,

Where juft, it has ever been the nurfe
of virtue, i. 104, 114.

Popular for whom befl, i. 107.

For whom inllituted, i. 122, 125, 259.

V/ha: fort was crdain'd by God, i, 174.

Coverntticntf the effe£ls of one well order'd,

i. 203.
What only deferves praife, i. 222, 225,
How the beft has been compos'd, i. 233,

290.
Regal had a mixture of ariftocratlcal and

democratical in them, i. 238.
Whence the denomination of all is ta-
ken, i. 238, 250, 432.
The foundation remaining good, the fu-

perftru£lures may be alter'd, i. 239,

246, 247, 308. ii. 53, 59.
When it cannot fubfift, i. 252.
The effeds of a diforder'd one, i. 255.
Allfubjedl to corruption and decay,i.267.
None impos'd on men by God or nature,

i. 271, 277.
Mixt compar'd with abfolute, i. 274,

ii. 365.
What the only juft one, by confent of

nations, i. 277.
What may be imputed to it, i. 284.
None ever freer from popular feditions

than Switzerland, i. 294.
That the bed which beft provides for

war, i. 296, 299, 302.
None without civil wars, tumults and

feditions, i. 309, 372, 374.
The end for which it is conftituted, i,

324, 326, 414. ii. 290.
The Roman, how introduc'd, i. 331,
Expos'd to the moft infamous traffick, i,

367.
Or what parts it may confift, i. 432,
Is a great burden to the wife and good, i,

436, 437. ii. 106, 131, 186.
To reform it, is to bring it to its firfl:

principles, i. 438. ii. 348.
Queftions arifmg concerning our own,

muft be decided by our laws, and not

by the writings of the fathers, ii. 65,
St. Paul's obedience to higher powers,

muft be underftood to all forts of go-
vernment, ii. 78.
What would make all in the world mag-
na latrocinia, ii, 94.
When the ends of it are accompli/h'd,

•ii. 189.
Moft of them have been mixt, at leaft

good ones, ii. 790- 364.
What only is reckon'd good, ii, 203.
Our own the fame with the Roman in

principle, tho' not in form, 11,231.
From whence the great variety of them

proceeds, ii. 508.
The Englifh, not ill conftituted, 11,309.
By what means the foundations may be

remov'd, and the fuperrtrufture over-
thrown, ii. 312.
In a well conftituted one the remedies

againft ill magiftrates are fafe and eafy,

ii, 335.

D d 4 Government i

An Alphabetical TABLE.

fflot'trftment , wiftom and valour reqnir''d for

the inftitutjon of a good one, ii. 349.
"Where it is either intirely to be changed,

or reform'd according to its firft in-

ftitution, ii. 3S9.
The bleffings of an abfolute one, ii. 365,

366.
Its eftablifhment is an arbitrary a£l,

wholly depending upon the will of

man, ii. 377.
Governors .ippointed to execute the laws for

the good of the people, i, J 04, 109,

J26, 317.

n.

547.

The law appoints helps for their infir-
mities, and reftrains their vices, i.
436.

The people's creature, ii. 30, 46, 2S9,

34-4-
"Where they are removable, if they will

not be reclaim'd, ii. 348.
The good and bad make the people hap-
py and milerable in their turns, ii,

363-
Gratiti of K. John to the pope, declar'd by

parliament to be unjuil, illegal, ^c,

ii. 140.
What implies an annihilation of fome

grants, ii. 204.
Where they ought well to be prov'd,

that the nature and intention of them

rri5y appear, ii. 265.
Of v.hat nature thofe of our kings are,

ii. 266, 267.

Grotius, his making St. Pefer and St. Paul
perfedly agree, about their different
phrafes of ordinances of God, and or-
dinance of man, ii. 82.
His faying, Qui dat finem, dat media ad

finem neceflaria, ii. 317.
About king's fiipulations, and right of
fending ambaffadors, ii. 353.
G'udphi and Ghibelins, their fa£lions in
Tufcany, i. 227, 375, 376.^
Genoa infefted with their faftions, i.
292.
Gufiwous (Charles) his confefling to an am-
bafTador how he ought to reign over
the people that had chofe him, ii.
277, 272.
lie and his uncle Adolphus were con-
tent with the power that the laws of
their country gave them, ii. 323.

H.

HAnnibal, kill'ft more great Roman
captains than any kingdom ever had,
i. 284.
The Samnites embafTy to him, i. 285.
How he loft the fruit of all his vidories,

i. 304.
When he invaded Italy, no country
feem'd to have been of greater Arength,

'• 374-
What to be done, if he be at the gates,

ii. 315.

Of lands, where they have been refum'd, Hanjeatick towns, i. 294.

ii. 268.

Grecians, knew no other original title to

government, tban that wildom, &c,

which was beneficial to the people,

i. 61.

Wherein they excel'd ether nations, ii.

Overthrew the vaft armies of the Perfi-

ans, 1. 197, 198.
"Were reduc''d to yield to a virtue greater

than their own, i. 230.
No abfolute monarch among them efta-

bliili'd by law, i. 248.
Have bee.T bv diforder in government,

exp''~5'd as a prey to the firft invader,

i. 305.
"When tficy were happy and glorious, i,

373-.
Their virtue expir'd with their liberty,

'• 394-
The word tyrant came from Greece,

and what it fignify'd, it. 53.
riouti/li'd in liberty in the time of Saul,

ii. 58.
Crot-u-^, his explanation of fovereign and

limited power, i. 317, 428. it. 280.
Wherein he juHifies fubjcfts in taKing

up arm?, i. 382,

Hatred univerfal incur'd by princes, who
always fear thofe that hate them, i.
380, 387. ii. u.
To all that is good, i. 384.
Jiea^, why kings are call'd by this name,
and the import cf the word both iri
fcriptureand profane authors, ii. 325,
326, 327.
The differences between the natural and

political, ii. 327.
W'hat the office of a head is in a natural
bony, ii. 329, 330, 331, 333.
J/f^.'fCt; judge different from a king, i. 172.
Kings not inftituted by God, but given

33 a punifhment, i. 17T, 172.
How their go veinment confifted, i. 234,

291.
Kings their power exceeded the rules fet

by God, i, 329, 429.
What their difcipline, i. 420.
In their creation of judges, kings, &c,

had no regard to paternity, i. 442.
Like to their neighbours in folly and
vice, and would be like them too in
govetpraent, ii. 16.
Their power greater than what the law

allows to cur kings, ii. 69.
Whether the law given them by Ggd be

fo

An Alphabetical TABLE.

{o perfei'T: as to be obligatory to all Ihbhs, fcurriloufly derides Plato, Ariftotlc

u.

ai8.

nations,
fletr reputed, the abfurdity of the notion,

i. 5^, 55. 56, 5^> 62, 71, 85.
Next in blood, i. 79, 80, l?o, I2i,

158, i59> 1S9. ii. 2S0.
Annex'd to one fingle perfon, i. T?5«
All the children of Noah were his heirs,

i. 125.
Next to the crown fet afide, i. 159,

161, 162. ii. 158, 159» ^^i-
Bellaie's extravagant doftrine of an heir

apparent, ii. 166.
Enjoys the fame rights as the parent, and

devolves the fame to bis poflerity, ii.

288.
f]£nglji and Horfa, on what terms the

county of Kent was given them, ii,

264.
flenry IV, of France, how he defir'd to

recommend himfeif to his people, ii.

166.
I, of England, whether he was an ufar-

per 01 not, 11. 271

and Cicero, i. 64.

His Bellum omnium contra omnes, i*
74, 83. ii. 171.

Hjs Hoftis Sc latro, i. 315.

The firft that contriv'd a compendious
way of juftifying kings in the moft
abominable perjuries, ii. 137.
Holland f of great ftrength fince the re-
covery of their liberty from the Spa-
nifh yoke, i. 200.

The war with them in 1665, i. 402;»

403*
How they have defended themfelves from

the greateft monarchies, ii. 79.
The flates are call'd High and Mighty

Lords J and the word Heer, which

fignifies Lord, is as common as Mon-

fieur in France, &c, ii. 260, 294.
The condition of the 17 provinces of

the Netherlands, when they fell to the

houfe of Auftria, ii. 305.
The power of the States- General how

limited, ii. 352.

men, J.

90.

V. his care was to pleafe his people, and Honours^ the higheft falfly attributed to ill
to rzife their fpirits, ii. 386.

Was terrible to France, i. 424.
His character, ii. 385, 3S6, 389.

VI, became a prey to a furious French

woman, 11.

386.

yil. had neither crofs nor pile for his

title, Ii. 273.
Vill. acknowledged the power of the
parliament, in making, changing and
repealing laws, ii. 121, 233.
Jleptarcby, when this was divided Into 7
kingdoms, each kept ftill the fame
ufage within itfelf, ii. 244, 246.
Could as eafily unite the 7 councils as
the 7 kingdoms into one, il. 246.
JRercukiy an account of him, i. 230.
Hereditary right can't naturally be in any,
i. 76, 121.
Prerogative of Dominion, how under-

ftcod, i. 105.
Right, as a reward of virtue, i. 137.
How a kingdom comes to he fo, i. 154,

155-
Crowns (0 as to their ordinary courfe,

but the power reftrain'd, i. 235.
Monaichies, in them no care is taken of

him that is to command, i. 303.
According to proximity of blood, not

prefciib'd by any laws of God, i. 337.
Children feldom prove like their parents,

i- 370-
Crowns, five different ways of difpoGng

them, ii. 149.

Heroum regno, i. 61, 1 16. ii. 6.

The government of whom, i. 443.
J.':/Iory Reman, Tacitus (ays it wanted men
to write thciis, i. 391,
4

Given to ill-gotten wealth, i, 112, 204,
232, 366, 368.

To fuffering virtue fometimes, i 252»

Where they have been the rewards of
vice, i. 261.

To thofe who diflervM the common-
wealth, i. 770, 276.

Juftly beftow'd on thofe that rightly per-
form their duty, i. 319.

From whom purchas'd, i. 367.

Given for fervices done to the publrck, i*
446.

Princes could not without breach of trufl:
confer them upon tbofe that did not
deferve them, ii. 249,
Hooker, his miftake in ti e fundamentals of
natural liberty, i. 19.

His admirable faying about lawful powers,
i. 150.

Slighted by Filmer, i. 19, 162.
Hottoman, his chara£ter and account of the

French kings, i. 423.
Human nature, the miierable ftate of it, if
not improv'd by art and difcipline, ii,

59-
Frailty, allowances muft be made for it,

196.

Hurt, they do none who do nothing, where

thib rule is falfe, i. 346.

I.

"^ Ames I. (king) his f^^^irg about hi? mak-
% iijg of judges and bi/hops, i. 382.
*' Acknovvledges himfilf the fervdnt of the
common- wealth, i. 428.

Jama I,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

'Jamet I. faid he was fworn to maintain the
laws, and fliould be perjur'd if he
broke them, it. xi8, 119, 3S2.

"Jdmei II. what we might expe«ll from him,

ii. 365-
'Japhety this part of the world feems by the

fcrlptures to be given to his fons, ii,

Jealoufyoi ftate, 1. 342, 357.
jKe/a//J joinM to Geneva, i. 7.

To be behev'd with caution, i. iig.
The prefent emperor of Germany too

much govern'd by them, ii. 324.
The foul that gives life to the whole body

of the PopiHi fadlion, it. 365.
The order banifh'd out of the kingdom
by an arret of the parliament of Paris,
but refus'd by thofe of Tholoufe and
Bourdeaux, ii. 383.
yeivi had a great veneration for the houfe
of David, and why, i. 164.
Grown weary of God's government, i.

182. ii. 52.
Had leave to deftroy their enemies, i. 192.
Idolaters among them in David and He-

zekiah's days, i. 261.
Idolatry the produftion of the govern-
ment they had fet up, i. 330, 331,
418.
Submit to the Roman power, ii. 62.
Thought Chrift's firft work would be to

throw off the Rom m yoke, ii. 64.
Being converted, thought themfelves freed
from the obligatierj of human laws,
ii. 90.
Some pretend to know their original, ii,

152.
A proclamation to extirpate them, ii.362.
ImperatoKy a name given by the Roman ar-
mies to pretors and confuls, ii. 285.
Imperium fummum fummo modo, i

modo non fummo, >

Liberrimum, i. 157, 317. ii. 280. j
Ab eo ^ quo fpiritus, ii. 288.
Impojing on people's confciences, i. 293.

On fome princes how eafy it is, J. 367.
Jttcda, who they are at Venice, i. 234.
Diftinftion between them here and Gives,
ii. 318, 319.
JndetiiKityy the aflurance of it would turn
men's other vices into madnefs,i. 450.
Indujiryy what is a fpur to it, i. 390.
Infancy y vid. child.

Inkeritanccy the common divifion of it among
brotners, i. 126.
Where it gave no right to crowns, i. 1 56,

i6r, 162.
To .-ne family, 1. 158, i6z, 18S.
Of the fword left to families, i. 193.
What the apoftles left to their fuccelTors
in relation to the fupreme power on
earth, i. 316.

Inheritance, private,many controvcrfies arl^

upon them, i. 338.
What right is equally inherited by all

children on the death of their parents,

i. 441.
William I. did not leave the kingdom as

fuch at his death, ii. 89.
What belongs to females, ii, 152.
Little regard to it in the Auflriaa houfe

according to blood, ii. 164.
In fome places the law gives private in»

heritance to the next heir, in others

makes proportions and allotments, ii,

166.
Injuries, the ways to prevent or punifH

them, either judicial or extrajudicial,

i- 3i3> 3^4-
Great ones will one time or other fall

on thofe that do them, ii. 430,
The Italians fay, he that does an injury

never pardons, ii. 11.
Thofe that are extreme, when fo to be

underftood, ii. 121.
Injujiice, what is fo in the beginning, can

never be the effeft of juftice, ii. 203,
Inquijition of Spain and other places, ii,

92, 366. ^
InJitnB, what, i, 177.
Injittution, he that inftitutes may alfo ab-
rogate, i. 23, 95. ii. 121.
Is an ele£tion, i. 148.
Of a kingdom is the aft of a free na-
tion, i. 426. ii. 48.
No prince had a more folemn one than

Saul, ii. 18.
Some kings have by it but little power,

ii. 70.
The magiftrates prerogatives depend upon

it- 97- ,
Of power is coercive, it. loi.
When princes defieft from the end of

theirs, ii.115.
Wherein the end of it chiefly confifts, ii.

189.
Often the corruption of the ftate is taken

for it, ii. 213.
They who inftitute a magiftracy, beft

know whether the end of the iaftitu~

tion be rightly purfu'd or not, ii. 277.
Integrity of manners makes laws as it were

ufelefs, i. 259.
Never lubfervient to the luft of princes,

i. 262.
Makes men contented with a due liberty,

i. 274.
Preferves popular equality, i, 328.
Can't be found in abfolute governments,

i. 370. ^ ;-

Preferves the people's fafety, ii. 48. •
Intercft, what advantages are reap'd from

uniting the nations to that of the go-
vernment, i. 393.

IntereJ^j

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Jttterejiy pcrfonal, prefet'd to the publick Judges, whether there be any concerning

good, ii. 48 <
Jnterregnuitiy that there can be none, a
fundamental maxim of great monar-
chies, i. 337.
Jobn^s (king) grants to the pope declar'cl
by the parliament unjuft, iUegaJ, i.
140.
Jofepbus of the Jewiih government, i. 171,
■ On what account he calls it a theocracy
and an ariftocracy, i- I77j 43^.
Says, their princes were to do nothing
without the advice of the Sanhedrin,
or to be oppos'd if they did, i, 418.
y^puay had neither the name nor power of

a king, i. 172. ii. 8.
JJaac, hischarafter, i. 29.
JJraelitei, had no kings in the firft inllltu-
tion of their government, i. 60,
Nor till 400 years after, ii. 209.
Strangers only excluded from being kiqgs,

i. 149.
Their government ariflocratlcal, i. 170,
"What the eftecl of their having kings,

i. 121, 429.
After Solomon, perpetually vex'd with
civil feditions and confpirjcies, &c. i.
330.
Ask'd for a tyrant (tho' not by that
name) when they ask'd for a king af-
ter the manner of other nations, ii,

Not known certainly by what law they

were goi^ern'd, ii. 209.
Liv'd under the power of tyrants whofe
pr^lamaiions were laws, ii. 367.
Italy, when fee lay defolate, i. 202, 204,

333-
How her commonwealths have flouriih'd

and decay'd, i. 226, 227, 303, 305,

306, 333, 374, 376.
Charles VIII. of Fr?nce conquer'd the

beft part of it without breaking a

lance, i. 7.%\, 306, ii. 19,
"Judge, where every man is to be his own,

i. 132. ii. 118, 322, 343.
"Who fliall be between prince and people,

i. 321, 323. ii. 115, 116, 168,

214.
No prince fit to be judge of his own fafls,

ii. 115, 11^, 184, 34.2, 346, 347.
The power of judging wbep 'tis fit to

call the fenace or people together, to

whom and by whom refer'd, ii 276,

!rhe parlidment the ht!\ judge In dubious

cafes, ii. -p.^, 324, 347.
Where 'tis not fit to be a judge in his
ow.T cafe, ii, ^45,
Judges (fuch as Jolhua, Gideon, &c.) whe-
. » ther their jj.wer was regal aad juft or
not, I. 46, 47, 453.

kings titles, I. 338, 339.
The power of making them, i. 382.
Sometimes the courts are fiird with ill

ones, i. 387, 388. ii. 224.
Appointed to decide the contefts arifing

from the breach of contrails, i. 451,
Their opinion concerning fhip> money,

ii. 46, 355.
The religion of their oath, ii. iiz, 122,

194, 223, 225, 22l5.

Parliament own'd by kings to be judges

of their flipulations, ii. 141.
What they ought to be, and in what

fenfe chofen by the king, ji. 194.
Who were executed as traitors for fub-

verting the laws of the land, ij. 194,

225, 355.
What aft Edw. 3. promoted for his

judges todo juflice, ii. 196.
The general rule they are fworn to ob-

ferve, ii. 197, 223, 355.
The power by which they adl Is from the

law, ii. 2??, 223, 224.
When they become the miniflers of the

devil, ii. 230.
The fad confequence of having all kings

conftiti^ted judges over the body of the

people, ii. 321, 322, 324, 343,
To determine controverfies m a matter of

right, ii. 345.
Whofe commands they are bound to obey,

, "• 355-
Judgment perverted, the ill efFefls of it, i,
J4.

Future, not fufficient to reftrain men
from being vitious, ii. 75.

Here they are pafs'd by equals, ii. 224,

Thofe the kings of Judah gave, were in
and with the Sanhedrin, ii, 224.

None that is right can be given of hu-
man things, without a particular re-^
gard to the time wherein they pafs'd,
ii. 310.

Kings can give none upon any of their
fubjedls, and why, ii. 350, 353,

354*

Human is fubjeft to error, ii. 384.

y*""'^** grand and petit, their power, ii<

194, 224.
How the judges are afiiftants to them, ii.

225.
In whofe light they give their verdidl, ii.

355-
Jujike, has always truth for its rule, i. 57,

120.

What the proper aft of it, i, 109.

Of every government depends on an ori-
ginal grant, i. 156.

Has fometimes been perverted by the de-
ceit of ill men, i, 252. ii. 196.

J4hc,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Jujiice, the fword of it for what ufe and

i. 313.
Where it will be expos'd to Tale, i. 368.
The rule of civil and moral adions,

i. 382.
How well admjnifter'd in republicks, ii.

79'. . ..

What is meant by it, 11. 92, 95,

The diftribution of it juftly, is a work
above the ftrength of one man, ii. no.

When the courfe of it is certainly inter-
rupted, ii. 173,

Deviations from it, ii. 196.

Where it is beft adminifter'd, ii. ai^.

Overthrown by the number of laws, ii,
221, 222.

In receiving it the king is equal to ano-
ther man, ii. 224.

Magiftrates made to fee it well executed,

ii. 347'

K.

KAthtrine de Meiicbj faid never to
have done any good but by miftakc;,
i. 255.
Kingcraft^ what, 1. 407, 417, 418.
Was wholly exerted in the fubverfion of
the laws of France, and the nobility
that fuppotted them, ii. 386.
Kingdom, the patriarchs had a fpiritual one,
i. 28, 29.
No paternal one among the Hebrews, i.

45-
Thought never to be bought at too dear

a rate, i. 59.

How the firft kingdoms were fet up, 1.71.

What are lawful ones, i. 104.

What it imports, i. 154.

One pofTefs'd by nine feveral families
within 200 years, i. 192.

All have their various fludtuations, thro*
ill difeipline or conduft, i. 191;, 299.

The greateft have been dcftroy'd by com-
monwealths, i. 303.

Dil'putes about them moft difficult and
dangerous, and very bloody in feveral
inftances, i. 338, 344, 346.

Of France divided by the cAates of the
realm, i. 427.

Not eftablifh'd but for the good of the
people, i. 436.

Of Granada, their ufage of their prin-
ces, i. 437.

All ereded at firft by the confent of na-
tions, i. 444.

Frequently reduced to their firft prin-
ciples, i. 444.
.Some eleftive, ibme hereditary, and how
directed, ii, 279, 280.

Conftituted by conquering armies, and
thofe ed-aWifh'd in the moft oideriy
manner, ii. 223*

Kingi

be

and ftates, how they came to

erected, ii. 291.
The prerogative or royal charter granted

to them, i. 3, 114.
The end of their inftitution, i. 8, 9,

23, 64, 67, 96, 97, 109, no,

134, 136, 157, 386. li. 228, 346,

347.
Whether they may be reftrain'd or cen-
ftir'd, i. 9, 24, 70, loi, 235, 316,

32J> 323> 417* 43i» 436.^11. 25,
lor, 102, 280, 287, 317, 340,
341.

In what fenfe they are like other men,
i. 13, 85, 181.

Evil ones will have evil minifters, i. 14,
265.

The relation between them and the peo-
ple, i. 20.

The only fort mentioned in fcripture with
approbation, i. 26, 172. ii. 47, 189.

The firft a cruel tyrant, j. 31.

Who taken from out of the leaft family
of the youngeft tribe, i. 46.

AH not the natural fathers of their peo-
ple, i. 51.

Whom the antients chofe for theirs, i,
60, 61, I20, 173.

Not all of them wife, i. 85, 405. ii,
321.

A king by nature, who, i. 108, 114,
117, 183, 192. ii. 83, 202, 203.

No defign to fpea.k irreverently of them^
i. 144, 266.

Set up by the nobles, antients and people,
i. 146, 149, 153, 156, i6i, 220,
425, 431. ii. 127, 157, 158.

All not alike in power, nor fpirit and
principle, i. 155. ii. 119.

Some good and lome bad, ii. 323, 324,

whether any are immediately fo on the
death of the predeceflbr, and before
they are prodaim'd, i. 163, 164,

337-
Given in wrath, i, 171, 174.

426700 kings, i. 178.

Many great ones overthrown by fmall re-

publicks, i. 186.
Few poffefs the qualities requifite, i. 190,

370, 416, 434.
The name thereof aboli/h'd, i. 235. ii,

97, 98.
Regis ad exemplum, not always (o in all,

i. 261.
A virtuous one, but a momentary help

fometimes, when his virtueb die with

him, i. 280, 34S, 370.
Whether thofe may be thrown down that

fet up themfelves, i, 323.
The fljihful and neg'igent accounted

great

't^

Ah Alphabetical TABLE.

great evils, i. 346, 347, 350, 357,

^ 387. 3S8, 39i> 39^. , ^^,

iCing:, the bcft liable to be corrupted, and Ki
fubje£t to mif^akes and paflions, i. 362.
ii. 1S3, 343.

Who faid to be like a pha?nix, i. 370.

None fo vicious but will fometimes fa-
vour juftice, i. 379.

Apt to live under the power of their lufts,
i. 383.

"Wherein juft ones will find their honour
and fecurity, i. 3S8.

Where lawful ones have prov'd equal to
the word ufurpers, i. 381.

Whofe condition moft miferable, and
why, i. 406.

Seme have experience as men, but net
otherwife, i. 407.

The name can't make a king, unlefs he
be one, i. 407. ii. 297.

Have a power of granting honours, im-
munities, f ^. out of the publick
ftock, i. 415, 440. ii, 249, 318.

Ncne to have more power or abilities to
perform his office than Mofes, i. 417.

Advanc'd by abjuring their religion, i.

Under the happy inability to do any thing
againft the laws of their country, i.
426, 428, 453. ii. 107, 165, 193,

338-

Where they have their (hare (and the

fenate theirs) of the fupreme authori-
ty, the government is beft fupported,
i. 428.

Have found out now cafier ways of" do-
ing what they pleafe, i. 438.

How there would be as many kings in
the world as men, i. 442,

If they have no title, they muft be
made fo either by force or confent, i.
444. ii. 13.

The confequence cf being unaccountable,
i. 450.

Have no other juft power than what the
laws give, ii. 1,48.

The fafety of their kingdoms, th?ir
chiefeft law, ii. 3.

The firft were of the accurfed race,
while the holy feed h3d none, ii, 8.

iBy what wicked means many of them
have come in, ii. ic.

Of Ifrael and Judah under a law not fafe-
ly to be tranfgrefb'd, ii. 23.

■Why thofe of Ifrael commited many ex-
tiavjgancies, ii. 24.

Tadg'd by the great Sanhedrin, ii. 25.

This fort of government the people's crea-
ture, ii, 30, 46, 289, 346, 368,

NoL to claim the liberty of doing in-

juftice, in virtue of their prerogative^

ii. 32, 34.
ngs bound up to the laws as to matters

of property, ii. 41.
Not to be too powerfal, nor too rich, ii,

48.
Of Ifrael, tho'thcy led vaft armies into

the field, feem to have poflefj'd but

little, ii. 49.
What their govetnment ought to be, ii^

54-
Of England reign by law, and are under

it, and why, ii. 63, 69, 74, 75,

356.
What will indear them to their people,

ii. 71,
The foverelgn power often meant by this

name, ii. 73.
What meant by lawful ones, ii. 77,

112, 113, 127.

Why thofe of Judah conld make noIawSj

ii. 84.
May be fear'd by thofe that do ill, ii. 86.
How made in the Saxon times, ii. 87.
What thofe of the greateft nations have

fuffer'd, ii. 96.
What is that king which never dies, ii.

113. 354.

Cannot mitigate or interpret laws, Ii.
121.

When faid to become perjur'd, ii. 119.

Not mafters but fervants of the common-
wealth, i. 428. ii. 127.

Can't be interpreters of their own oaths,
ii, 134,

Compel'd to perform the conditions of
Magna charta, ii. 140, 141.

May refign, if they will not obferve their
oaths, ii. 146, 147.

Next in blood, generally cannot be faid
to be kings till they are crown'd, ii.
J49, 153.

Hew he is not to be heard, if. 196.

The regal power, not tlie firft in this na'
tion, ii. 2.07.

Where the fame power that hsd creat-
ed this government, abolifli'd it, ii,
210, 211.

What our anceftors did with relation to
them, ii. 210,

Judges rightly qualified are to inftruin:
them in matters of Ijw, ii. 223.

Wherein they are equal to other men, i:'.

224.
None as fuch have the power of judging

any, ii, 224. 227, 228, 230, 3,2.
Where they ceafe to be fo, and beccm*?

tyrants, Ii. 229.
Their power not reRrain'd, but created

by Magna charta and other \xwit ;'•

2:4,

King-,

An Alphabetical TABLE,

KfrtgSf what is natural for the worft of

them to do, ii. 236.
The Norman, had no rftore power than

the Saxon, and why, ii. 247.
Tacitus fays, they were taken out of the

nobility, ii. 249,
Said to be chofen, or made, and fome-

times depos'd by their great councils,

ii. a6i, 317.
Never matters of the foi! of England, ii.

262, 290, 291.
"Why they fpeak always in the plural

number, ii. 267.
The titles of ours examined into, ii. 272,

273.
Whom the parliament have made are

lawful, or we have had none for thefe

700 years, ii. 273.
Their power of calling parliaments was

given to them, ii. 276, 315.
Naturally delight in power, and hate

what crofles their wills, ii. 281, 375.
The moft abfolute princes in the world

never had this name, il. 284.
Some fubje£l to a f'reign power, feme

tributary, and the Remans bad many

depending upon them, ii. a86, 287.
The adls of one de fa£lo, confider'd, ii.

297, 299.
Wherein the efTence of a king confifts,

ii. 297.
Deter'd from endeavouring to feduce any

of their great men from their duty,

ii. 311.
Who are a great calamity to a nation,

il. 315, 388.
Who only are the heads of the people,

ii. 324, 329, 330, 331, 333.
If their adtions are to be examin'd, and

their perfons punifh'd, ii. 340, 341.
None lefs capable oftentimes of forming

a right judgment than they, and why,

"• 343-
Nor can be prefent in all their courts, ii.

35^-.

Don't ftipulate for themfelves, but their
people, ii. 352.

In what cafes they are pepetually mi-
nors, ii. 354.

Their power not univerfal, for many
things they cannot do, Ii. 355, 356.

May in fome degree mitigate the vm-
diclive power of the law, ii. 358.

The advantage of their being reftrain'd,
ii. 362.

Not created to make laws, but to go-
vern by them ; and what is fignify'd
by ie roy le veut, ii. 382, 383, 3S4.

Are fworn to pafs fuch laws as the people
chufe, ii. 384, 387.
Kingi-bentbf Ux what ^ni eftablifh'd, iJ,
228.

Kings-bench, the king that renders juftice is
always there, &c. ii. 354.

Knight\ fervice, what, ii. 253.

Knighthood, the dignity of it, and wha\
was accounted a degrading, ii. 253,
. 254-

KrJghti of /hires in the Saxon times, ii.

JI56.

L.

LAWS, the prevalency of them over
fovereign commands, i. 2.
Who beft obeys them, i. 18.
The end of them is to enjoy our liberties,

i. 18, 19. ii. 72, 209.
Invert magiftrates with power for the

publick good, i. 67, 12^.
Of England acknowledge one only heir,'

i. ;?6, 125.
Said to be written reafon, ii. 123,
Have in 'em a conftraining force, i. i^i.
To whom the power of making them be-
longs, i. 151, 153. ii. 109.
Are the meafure of power, i. 154, i^8>

161, 416, 439. ii. 355, 356.
Of each country create a right to the

perfon that governs it, i. 157, 158.
Prefctibe rules how power fhould be tranf-

mitted, i. 158.
Where good ones do no good, i. 187,

ii. II.
To be fuited to prefent exigences, i i69>

244.
Make no diftinflion of pe.''-p •,.•53.

Lex perduellionis, i. 257.
Made in a fort ufelefs by integrity of

manners, i. 262.
Abhorrers of the dominion of it, i, <?7o.
Inftituted for the preventing of evii, i.

312, 323, 427. ii. 148.
Thofe that go beyond them a£l therein

as private perfons, i. 317.
Who moft reftrain'd by them, i. 320.
Subfift by executing juftice, i. 324. ii.

7-
Concprning the fucceflion, i, 337. ii.

108.
Tricks at law to put men to death, i.

H^». 3?S-

When in force, men of wifdom and va-
lour are never wanting, i. 357.

When they were overthrown, i. 378.

The defpifers deftroy'd without law, 2,
420, 429.

Don't always go by plurality of voices,

J. 434-
Of every place, /how the power of each

magiftrate, i. 451.
Were before kings, ii. 6.
Proofs hereof, ii. 7, 102,

Laivsf

An Alphabetical TABLE.

taws, of Go J, not to be abrogated by

man, 11. 26.
Our kings can make none of themfelves,

ii. 68, izi, 281.
We know none but thofe of God and our

felves, ii. 71.
Are not made in vain, ii. 75,
Some neither joft nor commendable ; in-

ftances thereof, ii. 92, 93, 220.
The ditedive power, which is certain,

has a power over the confcience,

ii. 93.
The fandlion that defer\'es the name of

a law, ii. 94, 95, 109, 188, 215,

220.

To what end made as to magiftrates, ii.

102, 103.
Princes and nations both gainers by the

due obfervance of them, ii. 107, 112,

146, 147. 338. 339-
That is not a ftate or government which

has them not, ii. 108.
Athenians not without them when they

had kings, ii. 109.
How faid to be above the king, ii. ijz.

Can only be alter'd in parliament, ii,

121, 122, 220, 238.
For what reafon eftabhfh'd : an encomi-
um, ii. 123.
Who violate thofe of nature In the high«fl

degree, ii. 131.
Of ones country to be fubmltted to, ii,

150.
Of nature, eternal, ii. 150, 160.
By whom the rigour of it is to be temper'd,

ii. 195, 196.
None made by man can be perfeft, ii,

200, 220, 222, 223, 235.
By them kings became firft what they

were, ii. 210, 234..
Thofe good for one people, that are not

fo for all, ii. 116, 217.
The ftatute of Henry VII. concerning a

king de fa£to, for what end made, ii.

297, 299.
Plain ones have been induftrioufly ren-

der'd perplex'd, ii. 313.
Good ones prefcribe fafe remedies againft

the mifchiefs of ill magiltrates, ii.

335. 337.
Where they are merciful both to ill and

good men, ii. 3 38.

Should aim at perpetuity, ii. 361.

The mifchiefs etTefted by a pei Ion's word
having the force of a law, ii 363.

When they may be eafily overthrown, it
will be attempted, ii. 378.

What gives the power of law to the
fanftions under which we live, ii. 381.
Leagues^ don't imply abfolute equality be-
tween parties, i. 163.

Leagues with conquer'd nations, i. 21 5.

League- faftions and wars of the Hugo-
nots, i. 242, 243.

How faithfully they have been obferv'd,
i. 295.

Men cannot too much rely upon them,
i. 295, 296, 298.

Thofe that make fuch as are detrimental
to the publick are punifhable, i, 319.

Made againft the Hollanders, ii. 79.

Of Jofhua with the Glbeonites gain'd by
deceit, ii. 143.

Made on a national, not perfonal ac-
count, ii. 352, 353- . .
Learning makes men excel in virtue, i.

,197-
Said to make men feditious, but dif-

prov'd, i. 184, 249.
Lcgijlati've power of Rcme and Sparta con-
tinu'd in the people, i. 210, 220. ii*

When it came to be fcom'd, i. 214.

The magiftratical power receives its be-
ing and meafure from hence, ii. ioi»

Can't be confer'd by the writ of fum-
mons, but muft be effentially and ra-
dically in the people, ii. 368.

Is always arbitrary, ii. 376.

Only trufted in the hands of thofe who
are bound to obey the laws that are
made, ii. 380.

The king can't have it in himfelf, not
any other part of it than what is for-
mal, ii. 385, 389.
Legijhtors fhould always be of the wifeft
men, i. 153.

Wherein their wifdom confifts, 1. 245.

Wherein they /hew themfelves wife and
good, ii. 377.
Legitimacy contra£ted, i. 160, 16 1.
vid. Bafiardy,

Some children, tho' born in wedlock,
utterly rejected as being begotten in
adultery, ii. 167.
Lezvis XI. his fubverting the laws of his
country, i. 422.

XIV. accounted his not being able to aft
contrary to law, a happy impotence,
ii. 165.
Liberty, the notions thereof, and from
whence, i. 6, 9, 22.

Natural, the confeqaence if remov'd, i.

Wherein it folely confirts, i. 17. ii. 126.
Filmer's notion of the grcatcft liberty ia

the world, i. 17.
Oppugners of publick liberty, i. 19.
Univerfal afTerted, and what that is, i.

29, 42, 76, 131.
The aflertors thereof have God for theic

patron, i. 104, 268.

Libirt

An Alphabetical TABLE.

t'iherty produces virtue, order, ftabllity, i,

i86, 250.
The lofs of it in the Roman empire, i.

193, 194, 199, 200, 2i3, 226,

S56, ii. 206.
The mother and nurfe of virtues, i. 193^

199, 226, 286, 365, 378, 394.
Made the moft virtuous people in the

world, I. 228.
When fubverted, the worft men thrive

beft, i. 253, 254, 256.
How our natural love to it is temper'd,

i. 263, 270.
None fought it but with fome reflraint,

i. 274.
V/hat the love of it infpires, i. 249,

285.
At home, and war abroad, i. 287.
When this is lofl, kingdoms and ftates

come to nothing, i. 199, 226, 227,

303-
Patricians the beft defenders of it, i.

310.

The way to recover it, i. 326.

Can't be preferv'd, it the manners cf

the people be corrupted, 5. 363.
None remain'd in Rome, when Sylla re-

fign'd his power; 3. 378.
When loft, excellent fpirits fail'd, i,

39^> 392>,394- . . .

A people can defue nothing befides it, 1.

413-

Can't fubfift, if vice and corruption pre-
vail, i. 438.

Is a right common to all, i. 440, 442.

God gave the Ifraelites this law, i!. 28.

Who have no true fenfe of it, ii, 37.

Our anceftors left us the beft laws ihey
could devife to [deft nd it, ii. 71.

All by the law of nr^ture have a right to
their liberties, lands, goods, &"<:. ii.

I3i> 365-
What principles make men lovers of it,

ii. 170,
None can fubfift vi'here there 1? an abfo-

lute power above the bw, i. 123,184.
Where 'tis deftroy'd by the prerogative,

ii. x86.
Of a people, naturally inherent In them-

felves, ii. 209, 265, 289.
The value our anceftors fet upon theirs,

ii. 221, 292, 374.
None has better defended them than this

nation, ii. 232, 374.
To it Tacitus attributes the German

bravery, ii. 243.
What is the utmoft aft of it, ii. 247.
The exercife of the natural liberty of

nations, in the feveral limitations of

the fovereign power, ii. 280.
Of a people, the gift of Gcd an', na-
ture, ii, 2S8.

Liberty, forfeited or refign'd, ii. 289.
No veneration paid to magiftrates can

lefTen the liberty of a nation, ii. 293.
Nothing valuable to it in the opinion of

the Romans, ii. 302.
Eafy to get partisans to make good by

force the greateft violations of it, ii,

310.
How to ufe one's own with relation to the

publick, ii. 343, 344.

Liberty with a milchief, ii. 367, 369','

370-
Of thofe who aft in their own perfons^

and of thofe who fend delegates, is
perfeftly the fame, ii. 371,
That for which v.*e contend as the gift of
God and nature, remains equally in
all, ii. 372.

Lin:al fubjeftion never learned from Mofes,
i. 116,
Succeflion, where not follow'd, i. 159,
160.

London f the privilege of the Common-
Hall, ii. 318,

Lord Paramount, over whom, I. 26, 27,

29» 31-
From whence he muft come, i. 41, 42.
None by nature over his brethren, i. 126.
The mifchiefs they both do and fufFer are

very great, i. 437,
Lords, how they have loft the authority

which they had formerly, ii. 312,

313.
Lcrd's'dayf not to be fpent in fports and

revellings, ii. 178.
Love to one's country, <ommonwealths

have it moft, i. 2S0, 286, 287.
The happy effefts of it, i. 284.
A refolution to die for, or live with it,

i. 2S4, 296, 297.
The way to make people in love with it,

'• 297> 35I' 395-
This now turn'd into a care of private

intereft, i. 308.
The behaviour of thofe that are lovers,

&c. i. 351, 392, 393.
Occafions fometimes wars and tumults,

'• 374-
Loyally, thofe th^t boaft loudeft of it, moft:

apply it the wrong v.'ay, i. 439.
Liiciilliis, his little army put Tigranes with

20GOCO men to flight, i. 200
Luxury of the Romans, the occ.ifion of

their ruin, i. 232.
Brought into Rome by C. Manlius, i.

260.
Expofes the Virtuous to fcorn, i- iCit^.
When in fafliion, the defire of riches

muft increafe, i. 367.
The braveft nations moft enllav'd by it,

ii. 51.

Lycurgtn,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

'X.ycurguif his laws receiv'd their autho-
rity from the general affembly, ii.
85, 109.
Abfuid to think of reftoring his laws,

it. 216.
To what the long continuance of them is
attributed, i. 361,

M.

MAceionian kings, their power was
but fmali, i. 199.
Their army overthrown by Paulus Emi-

lius, i. 299.

Vid. Monarchy.
Macbiavel, his admirable faying, i, 187,

409, 410.
Magi, who ufurp'd the Dominion of Per-

fia after the death of Cambyfes, i. 315.
Magifiracy, can have no intereft diftindl

from the publick, i. 96, 97, 262.
Its office is to execute the law, i. 96,

313. ii. 189.
If the people be bafe, &c, it can't be

fupported, be the ruler never fo per-

fea, i. 269, 334.
Whether it be that power which above

all reftrains liberty, i. 271.
Strangers admitted into that of Rome,

i. 288.
The eft'e£l of regal power committed to

an annual or othervvife chofen ma-

giftracy, i. 300, 390.
None can have the right of it that is not

a magtftrate, i. 314, 315.
Where it had nothing to do in fplritual

things, ii. 66, 67.
The ordinance both of God and man,

ii. 82, 83, 97, 99, 102.
Circumfcrib'd by fuch rules as can't be

fafely tranfgrtft, ii. 86, 336, 337.
Where obedience is due, ii. 93, 94, 95,

96.
On what the right and power of it de-
pends, ii. 97.
The nature of it, ii. 293, 294,
None now in being, which owes not its

original to fome judgment of the

people, ii. 350.
Magtjiratei, by whom conftituted, i, 10,

log, 124, 450. ii. 183.
- To what end fet up, i. 64, 65, 95.
Minlfters of God, i. 95. ii. 62.
How they are helpful to nations, i. 11 1,

173* "• 315. 319-
Under feveral names and limitations, i.

357, 451- .
Jewifii, wherein like the diflators of

Rome, i. 175.
Puniftiable with death by the Roman

law, i. 258, 317, 319.
Annual eleftion of them, i, 284.

Magljlrates, have enjoy 'd large powers, that

never bad the name of kings, i. 320,
How to be reftrain'd, i. 313. ji. 102,

106, 338.
A particular charafter of good and evil

ones, ii. 172, 173.
Whenthey were temporary andoccalional,

ii, 210.
Walk in obfcure and flippery places, ii,

338.
What to be done to thofe who defpife the

law, ii. 338.
Wherein their ftrength is, ii. 345.
The firft may be virtuous, but tlieir

fucceflbrs may foon be corrupted, ii,

377. 37S.
Magna Charta grounded on K. Alfred's

laws, i. 18.
The Jews had none fuch, ii. 62.
What it obliges the king to fwear to, It,

113-
Puts every thing on the laws of the land,

and cuftoms of England, ii. 122.
Is only an abridgment of them, ii. 139,

262.
Not the original, but a declaration of

the Englifli liberties, ii. 234, 377.
The rights the nation have refolv'd to
maintain, ii. 234.
Male-Line examin'd, i. 80, 339. ii. 8x.
Malice^ is blind, i. 259*

Seditions, &c, arife from thence, u
309, 3IT.)
Mamalukeiy their great defeat near Tripoli
by Selim, i. 279.
Accounted themfelves all noble, tho*
born flaves, ii. 261.
Man naturally free, i. 5, 38. ii. 28S.
Every one chief in his own family, i«

•5»

3b.

Can't overthrow what God and nature

have infticuted, i. 34. ii. 72, 73.
Creates governments and magiftrates, i,

39-

None knows originally from whom he is

deriv'd, i. 45, 50, 72. ii. 152.
Whence his mifery proceeds, i. no.
Wants help in all things, i, no. if,

361.
What rrakes a natural difference among

men, i. 115.
All fubjedl to error, i. 215, 335. ii,

107.
Enters into fome kind of government by

reafon, i. 271.
Follow what feems advantageous to them-
felves, i. 395.
What every one ought to be, ii. 10.
None can ferve two contrary intereits, ii,

58.
Are all by nature equal, ii. 201.
Where every one is a magifttate, ii. 315,

Ee

Manr.OTi.

An Alphabetical TABLE.

jH^ifion, tiC. cnjoy'dby tenure from king-',

ii. a66.
H'farriageSy often dedar'd null, i. 160.
Of Plebeians with Patricians, i. 209,

240, 245.
Where prov'd of no force to legitimate

children, ii. 168.
A power muft be lodg'd fomewhere to
decide them, ii. i68.
Mafiers, how far their commands are bind-
ing, li. 176, 177.
Only to -decide contefls between them
and their fervants, ii. 345.
Jlljximsy nothing to be receiv'd as a gene-
ral one, which is not geneially true,
ii. 130.
Mazarine J the ways of his advancement, i.

371'
/Indices, of the title of that family to Tuf-

cany, ii. 'c^.

Memheri of parliament fent to fervc for the

whole nation, not for a particular

borough, &c. ii. 370.

Inftrudlions are often given to them, H,

374-
Have no power before they are chofen,

nor ever could, if tbofe that fend them

had it not in themfelves, ii. 375.

Muft take care that the common-wealth
receives no detriment by their votes,
ii. 376.

A few poiTibly may be corrupted, ii. 379,
]['hrce?iary arn)y, vid. Soldiery.

Their bufinefs is to keep on their em-
ployment, i. 280.

Soldiers, always want fidelity or cou-
rage, i. 298. 400.

Courtiers, will expofe not only honour?,
but even iiifl ice to fu!e, i. 367, 368.

Wretches, their power at court, i. 37 j.

Augufius Cicfar had thirty legions of
them to execute his commands, ii.
206.
Merit ^ men rarely make a right eflimate
of tbeii own, i. 336,

The way of advancement to honour, i.
390.

"What preferves, and what aboliihes it,
i. 395.
Jlli(.k/e- Gemot! were general aflemblies of
the noble and free men, ii. 245, 256,
317.

They fct up feven niagiftrates over the
Heptarchy, ii. 246.

Of what they were in the beginning of
the Saxons reign, ii. 318.
ii^^iltiadet, his defire to wear an olive-gar-
lajid for his viclory at Marathon, and
the anfwer given to him, ii. 445.
Hflinijiers, according to the temper and ge-
nius of the prince, i. 13, 14,

Mir.ipen, cf the devil, who, i. 7^ 97,

103. ii. 82, 93, 95.
Of God, who, i. 96, 97, 99, 235^

286. ii. 81, 93, 95.
Muft receive their dignity from a title

not common to all, it. 86.
Every man by his works will declare

whofe he is, ii. 92.
The devils of a lower order, ii. 176.
Of Cod, how they may become the

worft of men, ii. 192,
What fort have feldom efcap'd punifti-

ment, il. 196.
Of the devil, have always carry'd en

their defigns by fraud, ii. 325.
Mif^^kci in ptinifhmen'.s carefully repairM

by honours, i. 215.
Seditions, tumults and wars arife from

thence, i. 309.
None in Sparta after Lycurgus's laws

were eflablifli'd, i. 310.
That fome have fallen into by the forni

of writs, fummoning perfons to ap-
pear before the king, re£tify*d, ii.

3c;o.
Mithridateiy what reckoned the greateft

danger of war with him, i. 199.
Monarchs, who have their right from God

and nature, i. 17.
Ought to confuk the piiblick good, i. 6j,

68.
How mod came to their dignities, i. 23S»
Are not above the law, ii. 129.
Monarchy, paternal, over whom exercis'd.

Whence fo call'd, i. 38.

For whom beft, i. 107.

No natural propenfity in men and bcafla
to it, i. 166, 167.

How Ariftotle commands it, i. 183, 184,

Mix'd, regulated by law, i. 189, 195,
262, 274.

Of Rome, at firft not abfolute, i. 220,

Moft have fuffer'd far greater changes
than Rome, i. 223.

Macedonian fell all to pieces after the
death of Alexander, i. 241, 331.

In what fenfe faid to be natural, i. 267.

A peaceable one in Peru for 12 genera*
tions, i. 335.

The French has been full of blood and
flaughter, i. 278, 350, 351.

The gentleft more heavy than any cora-
mon-wealth, i. 357.

AH fubjedl to civil wars, i. 357.

Well regulated, when its powers are li-
mited by law, i. 414.

The juftice of them eiiabJifli'd by com-
mon con fent, i. 146, 148, 162^277,
315, 416.

Why fo call'd, i. 2j8, 249, 411'

M(jnarcb^g

An Aiphabencal TABLE.

Monarchy^ nothing in the nature and in-
ftitacion of It that obliges nations to
bear with its exorbitances, ii. n.

What fort was difpleafing to Samuel, and
a rejeflion of God, ii, 2S.

Pjternal, overthrown by Filmer, ii. 46.

Not univerfaily evil, ii, 54.

Where it is regular^ kings can neither
makenor change laws, ii. 113.

Ucne eftabhHi'd among us in Julius Cs-
lar's time, ii. 210.

JWix'd, what the beft way to fupport itj

u. 311.

What has given beginning, growth and
continuance to ail the mix'd ones in
the world, ii, 564.

That not free, which is regulated by a
Jaw not to be broken without the guile
of perjury, ii. 3S2.

When the mix'd monarchies bfgan to be
terHbly rh:>kcn, ii. 3S6.
M-jnty.. Charles VII. of France rais'd it

by his own auchujlty, ii. 3S6.
Mofes and Aaron, the firft rulers of the
people, neither of the eldeft tribe^ rwr
eldeft line, i. 45, 46.

Ki£ admirable gius, i, 49, 187. ii. 110,
III.

Had not the name, ci power of a king,
i. 123, 172. ii. S

Cave the people leave to chufe their own
inagiftrates, i. 345.

Divided the Hebrews under fevera! cap-
tains, i. 2^1.

Povcer infupportable to him, ii. lio.

His charadler, i. 417. ii. 114, 330.

Wlifither we ought to conform to his la«r,
ii. 2i8, 219, 220.
Multitud-f what right it has to change a
tyrannical government, i, 23,

Composed of free men ; the power that
is plac'd in them, ii. 132.

N(»ie can be feditious till a common-
wealth be eflabUlh'd, i. 142.

Thofe that enter into contrafts, a£l ac-
cording to their own will, i. 143.

Where it brings confulion, i. 297.

Is the glory and ftrengih of every prince^

I. ^v^5.

May have its fears as well as tyrants, i,

413.
Confers on the pnnce all the power he

has, i. 442.
Whit is natural thereto in relation to

government, I. 449.
MM'deyen wilful, the horns of the aUar

gave ni* proteftion to fuch, ii. 84,

M^pirutoi ftate, i. 12,

N.

^l ylmeSy are not eiTential
^ Orates, ii. zi

to rsagt-
185, 286.
Of fovereign Lord, £ e. confiftent with

liberty, ii. 293, 294.
Nuihing of majefty among the Roman*
and Grecians to a fingle perfon, il.
293, 294.
There mult be fome us'd in all publicte

tranfad^ions, ii. 352.
Not to be regarded fo much as the power,
ii. 372.
I.^attons, what their rights are, i. 10. ii»
144, 191, 200, 231, 234, 238,

2^1, 308, 372, 3S9.

That went from Babylon, how mariy^
'• 32> 36, 41, 4^> 5S> 7i> J32,

Natural for them to chufe governor?, u

^J02, 117, 124, 277. ii. loi, 191.

Northern, their governments how in-
Hituted, i, 140, 42S. ii. 255.

Free, never con^uer'd but with difficul-
ty, i. 199.

Oppref,'d, can never grow v/anton, I.
217.

None fjfe without valoUr and i!renglh^
i. 222. ii. 238.

Foreign, call'd in by fome princes to de-
flroy their own people, i, 381.

Some fell their children, i. 299,

Slight matters fometimes biing them In-
to confufion. Inftances thereof, i,

. 329> 330-
When they are moft unquiet, i. 347^

348, 373-

The v.'ifeft have fet bound? to their prin-
ces power, ^c. i. 436, 451.
43.

Their liberties ai-p from God and nature^
i. 440 ii. Hi

Where they have taken the cxtremefl
ccurfes, i. 451.

Owe nothing to kings till they are kings,
ii. 34, 155, 15&.

What fet hmits to their patience^ ii. 33^
40.

What inclines them to fet up govern-
ments, ii. 39,

When all were governM by tyrants, i\»,
58.

Their fafety ought not to depend on the
will of their princes, ii. I23.

What are free and \vhat not, ii. 134,
185.

Thofe that had no kings had pov/er, ii»'
207, 203.

V/hat (hev/s befl their wifdom and vir-
tue, or their vices and iijlly, ii. 217,

E c s Kdfirit^

11. 47,-

An Alphabetical TABLE:

t^adontt wherein their failure has been too Noahy when he went ont of the art, Go<l

frequent, ii. 224. gave him a law fufficient for the ftate

This divided into even kingdoms, ii. of things at that time, ii. 7.

247. None but his right heir can have a title

None can have a power over any, other- to an univerfal patriarchal right, ii,

wife than de jure, or de fa£lo, ii. aSl, 77, 152.

Obedience due from the whole body, Kohility of Rome extirpated, i. 222.

v/hat, ii. 301.
Their liberties don't rife from the grants

of princes, ii. 306.
Delight in the peace and juftice of a good

governmentj ii. 307.
"What the moft ready way to effe£l their

ruin, ii. 313, 348, 349, 360.
"When oblig'd to remove the evils they

lie under, ii. 340, 341.
None can have an equal within itfelf, ii.

345-
Orie that is powerful cannot recede from

its own right, ii. 345.
What king none ever wants that has a

fovereign power, ii. 354.
"What thofe ought to do that are fo happy

as to have good kings, ii. 362.
Great ones never ordain'd by God to be

fljves, ii. 372.
Naiwalizationf Rome was for a general

one, ii. 288.
Negati've voice, how far it Is fald to ex-
tend, ii. 236, 237.
Le roy s'avifera, what meant by it, ii.

296.

The Roman power chiefly in them after

the e:!fpulfion of the kings^ i. 239,
Hold the balance between the king and

the commons ; when and how weak-
ened, i. 351, 356.
Of Arragon's faying to their new-made

king, i. 431.
What our anceftors meant by them, ii»

248, 249.
The ftrength of the government when

plac'd in them, ii. 249, 313.
Sometimes cafl'd inftnita multitudo, il.

^53» 256, 258.
Knighthood always efteem'd noble, ii.

253.
In France, ^c, ofwhatefteem, ii. 25 j.
The prefent titular has no affinity to the

antient nobility of England, ii. 257,
Of Venice and Switzerland what makes

them fo, ii. 260.
Their virtue and power formerly kept

the kings within the hmits of the law,

ii. 311.
Many have loft their eftates and intcreft

now, ii. 312.

/,V», the power of the ftate over him, i. Noli projequi, faid to be annex'd to the

perfon of the king, ii. 355,
Norman kings, fwore to govern

23, 24. 11. 70.
His endeavour to make a woman of a
man, i. 86, 100.
To tear up virtue by the roots, i.
100, 255, 3S4.
Condemn'd to be put to death, i. 258.

ii. 95.
What fort of vermin he encdurag'd, i.

261.
Setthe city on firft, i. 322, 380. ii. 91.
Dy'd by the hand of a flave, i, 332. ii.

70.
His ch3ra£ter, ii. 126.
His madnefs not to be cur*d but by his

death, ii. 340.
Nimrcd the firit king, i. 30, 31, 39. ii.

6.
Uforp'd the power over his father, £'<:,

i. 33. ii. 12.
Heir to no man as king, i, 55.
Stbin by Ninus, i. 53.
No right can be deriv'd from him, i. 73,
77» 85. _

Ereded his kingdom contrary to pater-
nal right, i. 441. ii. 208.
Noab, bore no image of a king, i. 30. ii,

20S.
HJs dividing of Afii, Europe and Africa

among his fons, 1. 52.

by the
fame laws as the Saxons had, ii. 247,

379-
Notionsy common, what are agreed to by

all mankind, i. 6ij»
O.

OAtb of allegiance us'd in the king«
dom of Arragon, i. 138.
Agreements between prince and people

always confirmed by them, i. 321.
How kings may be abfolv'd from them,

ii. 136, 137.
Its force confifts in the declar'd fenfe of

thofe who give it, ii. 137, 303, 304.
Scarce any prince broke it but to his

ruin, ii. 141.
All either voluntary or involuntary, ii,

14T.
Ought to be performed in reverence to

the religion of it, ii. 142.
What to be done, where the obfervation

of it would be grievous, ii. 148.
How the judges are bound by theirs, ii,

194, 195.
Wherein that of the crown bad not been

kept, ii. igSt

An Alphabetical TABLE.

9ath, What kings are oblig'd to do by
them, ii. 229, 379.

How far thofe of allegiance bind private
perfons, ii, 306.
Obedience, a£live and pafliVe, i. 15. ii. 180.

Where due and not due, i. 66, 99,
135. ii. 4, 12, 34, 100, loi, 301.

How far a good man will pay it to hie
prince, i. 363, 364.

The effefls of its difcipline among the
Romans, i. 393.

To higher powers, St. Paul's words fa-
vour all forts of governments as well
as monarchy, ii. 73, 79, 80, 82,
83, 100, lOI.

Why it ihould be paid, Il.-gi,

Is not due to that which is not law, ii.

93j .94. 95> 176, 177-
The prince owes it to the laws as well as

the meaneft fubjedl, ii. 113.
Due to parents, from whence it arlfes, ii,

28S.
Simple and unconditional, to what king

we all owe it, ii. 355.
. (Shjecl, the only worthy one of maa*s defire,

i. no.
CbIlga:ion arifing from benefits can only be

to thofe who confer them, i. 76,
Of gratitude, to whom due, ii. 13.
How far the extent of It can be known,

ii. 34.
Henry VIII. own'd it lay on him right-
ly to ufe the power with which he was

entrufted, ii. 121.

Occupation f the meaning of the word, i,

3^7.
Offa, vid, Saxons.

Officers, great one's in armies think only

of enriching themfelves, i. 400.

How their authority and power is to be
regulated, ii. loi.

Ought to have their places for the peo-
ples good, ii. 230.

Frequently put to death by the Atheni-
ans, &c. ii. 320.
Offices, what fits men for the execution of
them, i. 114, 115.

Thofe that buy will make the moft of
them, i. 368.

Or muft be turn'd out as a fcandal to
the court, i. 369.

By what means they have been often ob-
tain'd, i. 379, 371.
Cpprcffion, fcmetimes makes nations out-
rageous, i. 217.

Does people fuch injury, as can never be
pardon'd, ii. 11.
Order, when inverted, introduces extreme
confufion, i. 1 12.

Wherein it principally confifts, r, 112,
130, 133, 141, 187.

The effe(5t of it, i, 188, 197,

Order good, not wanting in Venice, i. 200.
Nor among the Romans, i, 203.
Being eftabllfli'd, makes good men.

1. 301.

The beft fometlmes fubverted by malice
and violence, i. 213.
Ordinance, what is blafphemy to impute to
God, i. 7.2.

Civil and human, i. 143.

God's general, and the particular or-
dinance of all focieties, i. 513.

Of God, appointed for the diliribution
of juftice, i. 323, 324.

Several tending to the fame end, ii. 82,

Original, no man knows his own, i, 50,

60, 64, 448. ii. 152.
Contradl, i. 109, in, 112, 114,

116, 119, 126. 133, 136, 144,

146, 451. ii. 35.
Right muft be regulated according to It,

i. 444.
Where it would be of no value, I, 450.
Of nations almoll wholly unknown to

us, Ii. 6.
Ours is deduc'd both from the Romans

and Saxons, ii. 242, 291.
Ojiracifm of the Athenians, no diflionour,

nor accounted as a puni/hment, i. 250.
Nothing favour'd fo much of injuftice,

i. 412.
Ofho, had the empire given him, by whom,

i. 332.
Was a felf-murderer, i. 332.
Why he was advanc'd, i. 337.
Out'laiv, or lawlefs, often apply'd to the

wicked, but never to the jufl, ii. 8«

P.

Pj^pal poivcr, the foundation of it, i.

The civil difTenfions In Germany pro-
ceeded from thence, ii. 105.
Pretends to the power of abfolution, if*

^37- . .

Her excommunications, bruta fulmina,

ii. 139.
Papips, their kindnefs to the proteftants

inftanc'd in, ii, 365, 366.
Paradoxes, many of them true, i. 103,
Pardons, faid to be only the bounty of the
prerogative, ii. 198, 355.
The meaning of a general one at a co-
ronation, ii. 199.
Where granted againft the oath of the

crown, ii. 199.
Granted by z€t of parliament, ii. 199,

200.
None for a man condemn'd upon an ap*
peal, ii. 356.

. E e 3 Pardms^

An AlphabeuGal TABLE.

Pardorti, tlieking can't always pardon in Parties threaten a national ruin, ii. '♦ii,

cafes of trealVn, ii. 357. PaJJiom, ewery one has them, few know

Parents, how oblig-d by nature to feek how to moderate thfm, 5i. 3315.

their children? good, ii. 3, 9. Put princes upon the moil unjuft oefighs,

Parliaments, the Infliti-.tion of them, and H. 350.

for what, i. 13S, 13:

The law is without paflion, ii. T13.

The fettling and tiansferring of crowns Patents, began long after the coming of the

lodg'd in them, i. 146, 2.36, 447. Normans, ii. 250.

In France, fet up to receive appeals from Pater I'^itri^^ the title the:ecf coniider'd.

other courtF, and to judge fovereignly,

nnw of little ufe, i. :i43, 426.
A free and well regulated one to chufe

minifters of fiate, i, 275, 276.
Their great power in all the kingdoms

that came from the north, i. 421.
Dedar'd Henry III. of France fallen

from the crown, I. 421;.
How they may be made ufeiefs, ii. 49.
England never wanted them, ii- 72, 73.
The word parliament came from the

f rench, but the power was always in

ourfelve?, ii, 85.
Henry VIII. confeffes them to be the

law-makers, ii. 121, 233.
Doubtful cafes refer'd to them, ii. 122,

197.
By writs compel the king to perform the

conditions of the great charter, ii,
140, 141.

I. 51, 100, ici.
By k-lling a tyrant how faid to become

{^y i. z,^, 60, 66, 95.
Paternal r;gl f, Abraham arrogated none to

himfel^; i. 32, 33.
Impofiible to be known, i. 41, 50, 56,

58, 121.
AH the kingdoms of the earth efta-

bli/lr'd upon it, i. c;6.
Government of Rome not paternal, i,

64.
Can't be confer'd on princes, i. 85, 93,

149.
To whom it belongs, i. 52, 124, 127,

ii.45.
In what the Hebrews had no regard to It,

i. 442.
Is a meer fiftion, i. 447.
Is from nature, and incommunicable, ii*
I.

Have given the crown to whom th^y Patriarchal right, women and children have

pleas'd, ii. ii;l, 139, 161, 238,
252, 253, 261, 273, 2-5, 277,

300-
Judge of difputes arifing from the chil-
dren of royal marriages, ii. 168,233.
Have the file power to explain and cor-

rtcl laws, 1!. 200, 20lj 236, 238,

252, 299.
Oug^it of light to be annually, ii. 236,

320, 321.
from whence they derive their authori-
ty, ii. 240, 341, 275, 277, 314,

— 320.
Have refus'd to be difTolv'd till their

work was nniHi'd, ii. 319.
Not impeccable or infallible, but lefs fub-

ject to error thjn feme princes, ii.

32r, 324. 360.
Our lives and liberties depend upon this

court, ii. 359.
\Vh.U the great Burleigh and Sir Tho.

Moor faid of their power, ii. ''''4.
If they make unjuit laws, their pofkiiry

will fr.fFer, ii. 379.
How diSicuk they are to be brib'd, ii.

379'
Tc have their rolls in their offices, not

a meer cerf?rony, ii. 3S3.
What kings have had continual difputes

with them, ii. 388.
Parties, what certainly dividas ihej nation

into thtn^, ii. J72.

!t, according to Filmer, i, 3,
The abfurdity ofit, i. 25, 26, 27, 73,

74- "• 77> 37^-

All pretence to it defiroy'd, i. 32, 39,
44, 52. ii. 241.

Muft accrue to every f.nher, i. 36.

Either divifible or indivifible, i. 41, f;6»
Patriarchal ficwer different from the regal,

i. 28, 29, 103.
Peace, there can be none without juftice,
i. 24, 225.

Defirab!^ by a ftate coufiituted for it, i.
222.

Slavilh, i. 223, 224.

Whit men have in their graves, 1, 224.

What the Spaniards fettled in the Weft-
Indies, i, 224.

Thf nime of it given to dpfclation, i,

224. 373. 374,_ 375. 177-.
The fid one whiuh Frsnce en'oy'd fof

five or fix ages, 1. 348, 349. 35^-
In Spain to vvh,it imputed, i, 3^4.
The terms cfl'er'd, if good, like t'"> be
obferv^d ; if bad, will foi^^n be bso-
ken. ii. 302-
Fee'i, aft for themfclves in th»^!f own

houfe, ii. 375.
Pcmhrok , a late Earl of that noble family,

his fa;, irg, i. 341.
PfJjJe, not oiiginaily created for kings to
rc:g8 ovsr them,, i. S.

Pispk^

An Alphabetical TABLE.

ti'p^-i, whether they chufa governors, i.
21, loa, 109, 137, 149, i6i,
162.
Scripture- inf.ances for the proof it, I.

^7^' 431- ....

The choice of the confiitution is from

them, i. 151, 234, 235, 450. ii.

155, 208.
Kings receive their right from them, i.
' 156, 447.
How God deals with a people when he

intends to exalt them, i. 203.
Of Rome, their fad degeneracy, i. 204,

205.
Their right to appeals, i. 212, 220,

234. 257.^
Acting according to their own wii!, ne-
ver fet up snworthy men, unlefs thu>'

miftake, i. 269.
The body of them the publick defence,

i. 282, 29c, 291.
None ever well defended but thofe who

fight for themfelves, i. 290, 291.
In civil contefts they t4ually fufter, i.

311, 312.
Whether to be judges in their own cafes,

i. 321, 322.
When generally corrupted, the event is

always fhe ereftion of a tyrant, i, 327,

360.
Their condition where tolerable under

very cruel emperors, i. 346.
Their hating of cruel princes, and they

them, i. 387.
Muft neceffarily have all the power ori-
ginally in themfelves, i. 415, 431,

432. ii. 209.
Their right of looking into matters of

government, fefc. ii. 22, 115 — 118,

183, 319^ 320* 34-i» 342, 343-..

Can never fall into nonage or dotage, ii,
128.

Did never part with all their power to
kings, ii. 157.

May govern by themfelves, ii. 147,

Their whole body not fubjed to the
commands of the magiftrate, ii. 301.

In their colleftive body always continue
as free as the inward thoughts of a
man, ii. 304.

They certainly perifh who fuffer them-
felves to be oppiefi'd, ii. 339.

That are not free, can't fubltitute De-
legates, ii. 36S.
Vid. Nation and multitude.
Perfffiion, fimple and relative, ii. 2!8.
ferjecution among the fiift Chtiftian em-
perors, i. 194.
Ferjia, their kin^s reign'd from the Indies
ro the Hellefpont, i. 51.

The decrees of thefe kings pafs'd for
laws, J. 154.

Ferjij, the jiift fentence of the princes about
D'niel, i. 191,
Torn to pieces by the fury of two bro-
thers, i. 248.
Under what ill conduifl and dif^ipline
their army was, i. 299.
Pitition, the haughty Romans condescend-
ed to join in one with their tribunes
to their di£lator, ii. 294.
Pharamond, his race in France, an ac-
count of it, ii. 160.
Pbaraob, his monarchy an a£l of tyranny,

i. 45.
Pharijees, their fuperfllrion, ii. 177.
i ijilo, to what he imputes the inftitution
of kingly government in ITrae', i. 171,
Phi't'jfopby tru3, perfectly conform,^ ble with
what is taught by men divi:;ely in-
fpir'd, i. 112.
rbocio'i, of his death, i. 251.
Picenicians fettling in Africa, brought their

liberty with them, ii. 289.
Plato, a commendjtion of him, i. 102,
IC3.
His principles of government, i. 108,

112, 114, 115, 122.
His opinion, who ought to be advanc'd
above all, i. 114, 173, 416,
P/<2yi, the confequence of them, i. 205,

225, 261, 279.
Pkbeiam elefted to the chief magiflracies,
i. 209, 239, 245, 358.
Their j-aloufy of the Patricians, i. 309,
Polity, its fignification, i. 119.
Po//V/fa/ fcience abftrufe, i. 167.
Porrpty, his caufe more phufible, but Lis
dcfigns as bad as Caeiar's, i. 37S.
The firft ftep to his ruin was by violat-
ing the laws, i. 427, 428.
Popular government for what people beft,
i. 107.
No where difprais'd by Arirtotle, i. 184.
The extent of its conquefts, i. 1S6, 195,

228, 229.
Of Rome, how fupported, i. 228, 229.
Something of monarchical in them, i,

238.
Can never be upheld Hut by virtue, u

263, 364.
Pcfiible, 'but not eafily to fall into cor-
ruption, Gff. i. 267, 361, 363, 370^
Improperly what, and what in the Ilrideft

fenfe, i. 268.
Preferves peace, and manages war beft,

i. 276, C77, 278.
Every man concern'd in them, i. 282,

379> 390.
States remarkable for peace, i. 293,294.
Excellent men are generally chofen in

them, i. 303.
What leditions are feldom feen in them,

i. 309, 311.

E e 4 Popular^

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Topuhr, how ruin'(3, i. 327.
Encourage induftry, i. 377.
Never hurt private perfuns but thro' er-
rors, i. 379, 413,
"When they began Co appear in the world,

ii. 65.
Obedience due to them as well as to mo-
narchies, it. 78, 79.
"Portugaly wl 0 accou'.ited king thereof by

tha EngliQi court, ii. 353.
Poverty, no inconvenience in it, if virtue
be honour'd, ii. 364.
The miferabl' condition of Greece, Italy,

&c. \. 373, 375, 376.
When it grew odious in Rome, ii. 51.
Poivcr (all 'uft fovereign) from the people,

i- 94> 137^ i3^> Hi> i57> 315*

43i> 43^- . , . .„ ^

How hi that hds it is the minifter of

God, 1.96, 98. 192. ii. 236, 308.
Not an advantage but a burden, i, 122,

123.
Delegated, to whom refer'd, i. 137,

139, 141.
The root and foundation of it, i. 141.
Civil, an human or-iinance, 143.
Of the people fu^jed to no rule but their

ow;i will; t. 213.
Of the Ron-isns after the expulfnn of

the kings, Ciiefly in the nobility, i,

^39-
Na;oraily of a fi-^-rce and afpiring temper,

i. 26 ".

Scivereign and limited, i. 317, 351.

"What, m ail the kingioms peopled from

the north, i. 421-
rjoft Ofe wh-n ieaft envied and hated,

i. 422.
If i"- h >s been divided, it may be fo in

inli)iitum, i. 444..
The Roman emperors endeavour'd to

make their power hereditary, i. 447.
The ill eFecls of urlimited might caufe

it to be mrderated, ii. 6.
What m-^' be lawfully reufted, ii. 17,

18.
What prince ought to have it, and what

not, ii. 70.
Wilt thcu not be afraid of the power ?

what meant by it, ii. 79.
Direflive and coercive, ii. 93, 94, loi.
Why it onjnt to be liniited, ii. 107.
Of the king is the power of the law, ii,

121, 224, 236.
Wh'^t requifite in every ftate, ii. 131.
None can be juu but what is good, 15,

204.
Over nations muft either be de jure, or

de fade, ii, 281.
Of the king various according to the

conftituticus of cveiy flate, ii. 2S3,

£S4.

Power, nothing can make that inherent,
which is only delegated, ii. 319.

Reftrain'd, when it began to grow info-
lent. Inftances, ii. 335, 336.

Where 'tis not univerfal, it is not in-
herent, ii. 355.

How that of every county, city and bo-
rough of England is regulated, ii. 369.

What muft be in thofe that a£l by a de-
legated power, ii. 374, 375.

Where it is plac'd by well conftituted
governments, ii. 377.
PraBice cannot declare the greatnefs of
authority, ii, 24.

The confequence of fuch a dc£lrine, ii.

Of nations to their fovereigns, ii. 293.
Prayers and tears the only arms of the firft

Chriftians, ii. 60.
Frcfermsnis, by what means men now rife

to them, i. 371,
Given to thofe that were moft propenfe

to flavery, i. 391.
Where obtiin'd only by virtue, 5i. 395,
Prerogative oi kings, what, i. 3, II4.
Of birth, i. 49.
Heredit wy of dominion, i. 105.
i-A\ grar.ied by confcnt of the whole fo-

ciety, i. 134.
What the moft glorious, ii. 34, 22gj
The utmoft extent of it. What, ii. 127,

229.
Only inftituted to preferve liberty, ii.

18S, 220.
What is not the gracious bounty of it,

ii T99, 387.
Who thought whatever could be detraft-

ed from the liberty of the nation,

W' uld ferve to advance the prerogative,

ii. 3S8._ ^
Princes, ordain'd for the good of the people,

i. 67, 101, T04, 106, 108.
Ought to be rich in virtue and wifdom,

i. 113, 114. ii. 141.
All things vary acccroing to the humour

of thofe that govern, i. 190, 192,

,^93; ^94-
Very few of an inflexible virtue, i 266.

Killing one to obtain the crown, i. 65,
66. 348, 349.

F.ifily mpob'd on by pretenders, i. 367„

^y fetting up their own intereft becrme
enemies to the publick, i. 379, 380,
382, 387. ii. 5. ^ _

God's vicegerents, doing their duty, i.

385.
The beft, by what means drawn out of

the way uf juftice, i. 252. ii. 117.

For they have their failings, ii. 196.

Virtuous ones will have virtuous coiirts,

J- l^9i 370.

Princes^

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Princet, evil ones juft the contrary, i. 261,

265* 367. 37o» 39V 394; 395. .
How they foon lofe their dominions, 1.

304, 305, 306, 346, 347.

Seek the deftruftion of their belt fub-
jefts, i. 347, 388. ii. 80, 81.

Some confider nations, as grafiers do
their herds and flocks, i. 385.

May corrmit many errors in the begin-
ning of their reigns, to the ruin of
themfelves and people. Inftances, i.
404, 405.

The treachery and perjury of lome, 1.

438.
What thofe that govern them inftigate

them to, ii. 5.
How far their legal power extends, ii. 17.
Such as are barbarous to their own peo-
ple, are ufually gentle to the enemies
of their country, ii. 57.
A dangerous thing to arm them with too

much force, ii. 105.
Bound by their oaths and promifes, ii,

141, 142, 143, 144.

From whence their power is deriv'd, n«

236.
Not fafe to contradift fome, tho* never

fojuftly, ii. 361.
An unlimited one what compar'd to,
and an inflanre of fuch an one in
fcripture, ii. 362.
Frincipes, the extent of the word, i. 25,
88, 128. ii. 98, 243, 255, 259.
T'he Sanhedrin meant thereby, i. 418.
Principle: of all generous nations before
Chrift's time, what, i. 7.
And practices the beft way to judge men
by, i. 262.
Prifoners, ought to pay their promis'd ran-

fom, ii. 142.
Private perfon, what aftions denote a ma-

giftrate fo, i. 317, 321.
Pri-vernites, their city taken by Plautius

the conful, ii. 302.
ProcefSy judicial and legal, what, i. 3 1 3.

Or extrajudicial, i. 324.
Prcclamjtiom, are at mofl but temporary,
ii. 359, 368. _
The danger of their being accounted laws,
ii. 360, 363, 365.
Promijeiy ought juftly to be performed, ii,

142.
Even thofe extorted by fraud. A fcrip-

ture-inftance, ii. 143.
Property, is an appendage to liberty, il.

126.
Of our kings, if they be the fountain

of it, ii. 263.
Propojitionsj ought to be univerfally true,

i. 20, 31.
Filqner's general one found falfe, i. 54,

58$.

Profcriptiont, i. 203, 207, 21?, J23,

»55» 331-
Profperity runs naturally into all manner of

excefles, i. 218, 261.
Men have been precipitated into ruin by

it, ii. 337.
Proxies, the way of ufing them, I, 143,
Proximity of b!:od, only regarded in fome

places, whether legitimate or not, u

340. ii. 280.
How right del'cend? this way, ii. 272.

Vid. SucceJJion,
Punlpment of fupreme magiftrates in three

inftances, i. 316, 317, 319.
To exempt all perfons from it, fuppofes

they would be guilty of the worft, i,

3*5-
"Where there is no fear of it, i. 367,

368.
Future, many don't believe or not re-
gard it, ii. 10, 75.
Of thofe "^he prince corrupted to defert

the publick caufe, ii, 311,
Of thofe that give princes ill advice, iJ,

357, 358.
Whether it ought to fall upon one or a

few guilty perfons, or a whole natioa

that is innocent, ii. 341,
To what members of parliament are fub-

jea, ii. 370.
In whom the power of it is lodg*d, ii,

375-
Pyrrbus, feems equal to either of the Alex«

anders, i. 304.

His anfwcr to him that ask'd who ihoald

fucceed him^ i. 333.

0.°

Q:.

Ualitixy no more extraordinary in
princes than in others of lefs degree.

1. 13.

What are requifite for chief maglftrates,
i. 65, 70, 105.

Few kings poflefs all that are requifite,
i. 190.

What I'ubfift in a well-order'd govern-
ment, i. 203.

The moft eminent without virtue, re-
puted vile and odious, i. 211.
parrels among princes for the moft part
begun upon perfonal titles, i. 312,

347, 348, 350-

Of princes, where they have been de-
cided with their own fwords, i. 312,
341.

What would make a perpetual fpring of
irreconcilable and mortil quarrels, i*
340.

An Alphabetical TABLE.

^uafreh, fuch as arife between the Nobles
and Commons frequently produce good
laws, i. 5sS-
Ouis with the Dutchj 1. 3S1.

R.

RA'zi^ygk, Sir Walter, retle£>ed on by
Filmer, ii. 274.
His morals no way exa£l to a well qua-
lified gentleman, ii. 274.
Rejfcny is man's^ nature, i. 271. ii. 29,

Univerfal, is that to which all nations

owe an equal venewtion, ii. 95.

Rebellion^ the greateft empire of the Eaft

overthrown by that of the Mamalukes,

i. 217.

People driven to it by mifery or defpair,

i. 217. ii. 24, 25.
There can be no luch as that of a natk n

againft its own magiftrates, ii. 301.
What it implies, ii. 301.
Is nothing but a renew'd war, ii. 302,

306.
What is compared to witchcraft, ii. 306.
jRegal fower, never exercis'd by Abraham,
ij. 32.
The firfl fathers after the flood had not
the exercife of it, i. 441.
JiegicideSy their abominable tin, ii. 192.
Regnum, the fignification of the word, ii,

5-
Rehohoam, a fad account of him, J. 192,

405-
His power far from being abfolute, ii.

69, 70.
Had goood counfel,but would not hearken

to it, ii. 129.
Was not the head of his people, and

why, ii. 330.
RcUgion, always dangerous in the times of

the beft Roman emperors, i. 194.
Of the fame nature vnth virtue, i. 383.
The principles of the popifli, ii, 365.
Faucdies to government apply'd according

to the neceflity of circumftances, i.

209, 244. ii. 335, 336, 337.
What children have, againft their too

fevere parents, ii. 9.
None to the Hebrews cries and prayers

under their mif-ries, ii. 15.
Muft be try'd, how difficult foever, ii.

339» 340.
Whith mort fit to be apply d, the beft

time to apply them, -ind who the

propereft judges, ii. 346, 347.
Feprcjentuti<ves , hew, and by vhom they

came to be deputed, ii. 245, 246,

255, 258, 31S.
Whethar the people fhould judge of their

behaviour, ii. 319, 320,

Republkh^ Vid. Commonzvealtht.
Reftgnation of one's liberty, what, li. 289,

Of the crown, ii. 147, 148, 342..
Rcfijiance, in what cafes jnftified, i. 382,
ii. 18, 21, 22, 37, 38.
Every one has a right to refift what ought

not to be done to him, ii. 31, 32,
Scripture- instances of refifting princes, ii.
76.
Refumption of lands, Vid. Granti.
Retaliation^ where nothing was mere juft,
i. 191.
Kings under this law as well as people,
ii. 27.
Rcver.uB, how granted to and fettled on

kings, ii. 50.
Revolts of conquer'd nations, i. 215.
Of fubje£ts or allies, i. 217, 331,
Of Ifrael in Solomon's time, i. 330,

ii. 25.
Of Abfalom, ii. 22, 24.
Of the ten tribes, ii. 25.
General of a nation can't be call'd a
rebellion, ii. 300, 301.
Revolu.'ioKS, Vid. Authors.
Rewards and puni/hments how to be pro-
portion'd, i. 232.
Make men fubfervient to ill defigns, ii.'

48, 49.
What call'd the rewards of the vileft
fervitude, ii. 243.
Riches, the root of all evil, i. 91, 92,
364. 366.
When they become formidable, 1. 209,
Exhaufted by tribute and rapine, i. 219,

366.
Defir'd, to gain followers, i. 48.
From thence all mifchiefs enfue, ii. 51.
Right, of thjfe foverejgns that are lin>ited,
i. 318, 320, 321.
Proceeds frcm identity, not from fimili*

tude, ii. 328.
What belongs to every man in all cafes,

"• 343-
Right acquired, how to be obtain'd, i:,

153, 265.
How the refignation of it to another

operates, ii. 265.
Hereditary to the dcminicn of the wcujd,
no fuch thing, i. 76, 77, 121.
Great variety in the dedudtion of it,
i. 156.
Univeifal, ccnfer'd by God and nature,
i. 63.
Where it muft have been, i. 71, 73,

S4, 134.
Mul^ be one, or divided, i. 71, 74.
Wheie it devolves on particular na-
tions, i. 136.
Right of chufmg, infers a right of mak-
ing a king, i. 147.

An Alphabetical TABLE.

flight, created by an explicit a£l of appr»- Rome, when {he met with defeats and ruin^

bation, i. 148, 162.
Naturally belonging to nations, not im-
pair'd bv the nanrie of fuprenie given
to magiftrates, i, ^517.
Of proceeding judicially or extrajudicial-
ly againil all that tranfgrefs the laws,
i, 323. ii. 18.
^ight of occupancy, i. 65, 92, 93.
None can come by conqueft, i- 39, 4^0*
None to be deduc'd from him that had

none, i. 40, 73, 94.
Where to be acknowledg'd, J. 66.
Of Jack Straw, Wat. Tyler, Perkin

Warbeck, i. 341.
The continuance of an unjufl: ufurpa-
tion can never create a right, i. 448.
^:git of particular nations, how it may
fubfifl, i. i6, 17.
Proceeds from the laws of nature, i, 17.
ii, 241.
Jiigbt to crowns, what faid to be infe-
parable from kings, i. 172.
Muft be eirhcr natural, created, or ac-
quir'd, ii. 153.
Meckel, how it came to be taken, i. 397.
^ods and axes, before whom, and why

carried, i. 258. ii. 294.
S.oman emperors, who the beft and wifeft
of them, i. 362.
How they were fet up, ii. 65.
Momat empire, deftroy'd by the lofs of
her liberty, i. 193, 199, 200, 204,
205, 221, 222, 223, 229, 246.

Its extent after the
i. 202, 221.

recovery of liberty,

1. 188, 392, 393.

Ail that ever was defirable in her pro-
ceeded from liberty, i. 201,

Never produc'd a brave man fince the
firlt age of her flavery, i. 204.

How it was compos'd, i. 234.

Sought her grandeur by war, i, 240,
288.

Her fortune when (he became a monar-
chy, i. 242.

None fo free from crimes of wilful in-
juftice, nor guilty of fo few errors as
fhe, i. 252.

Her generofity, i. 252.

The mildnefs of her government for 300
years, i. 254, 259, 260.

Struggling for liberty, at laft was ruin'd
by the Barbarians, i. 256, 257.

Not endav'd when Brutus was kiJl'd, i,
301.

Was jealous of Valerius Publicola, and
why, i. 309.

The peace Ihe had under Auguftus, i.

^ ^ T

^^

When fill'd with blood and aflies, i. 333.
Her condition now, i. 374, 375.
Suffer'd more by one villain, than by all
the defeats receiv'd from Hannibal,

i- 377-
A perpetual fpring of brave and valiant

men fo long as liberty lafted, i. 394.
Remain'd in llavery notwithftanding the

flaughter of Caefar, i. 36.
Her kings lands, after their expulfion,

confecrated to Mars, i. 49.

Tacitus'e defcription of it in Its deden- Romulus^ flain for aiming at too great an

fion, I. 204, 207.
Jt d d not fall on a ludden, and why, i.

205.
Her delatores what fort of people, i. 204.
Subdu'd by the moft barbarous nations,

i. 208, 224, 257.
Perpetually decay'd when it fell into the

handsof oneman, i. 219, 222, 224,

ii. 44.
Its own prudence preferv'd it, i. 229,

245-
Reftians hsd three ways of dealing with ccn-
quer'd nations, i. 216.

What r^is'd them above the reft of man-
kind, i. 282, 285.

They only ft: to be (0, who thought no-
thing valuable but liberty, ii. 302.
Rome, whether that government was pa-
ternal, i. 64.

Overthrew all the monarchies within
thrir reach, i, 64, 202, 228.

Its extfint at firft, i. laS, 22p,

Whereivi (he excePd otner nations, U

Z86, 221, 222,

authority, i. 62.
How not made king by the people but

by God, i. 94. ii. 209.
Laid the right of appeals to the people, as

the foundation of his commonwealth,

i. 212.
How he tf mpsr'd the fierce humour of

the people, ii. 217.
Ru/e, there mult be one relating to the ac-

quilition and exercife of power, i. 411.

ii. 278.
The law of nature is that which God

has given to things, ii. 29.
If ^ny h.^.d bpen given by God and na.

tu;e, it muft have been from the be-
ginning univerfai and perpetual, ii,

212.
There is one which kings are oblig'd to

follow, ii. 278, 279.
None can be fo exacl as to make pro-

vifion againft all dilputes, ii. 307,

3-8.
Without it fociety cannot fubfift, Ii. 344.
Men fubjeft to none- but that of their

own reafon, ii, 277.

Hulet,

An Alphabetical TABLE.

^aJ«, fet to alftlneuifh between right and Saul^ not made king by virtue of God's

wrong in princes, i. 66. unftion only, ii. 21.

By which men are govern'd, arc nam'd Savoy ^ the duke, found out thirteen halves

laws, i, 104. to be in every year, ii. 305.

Not generally true, if there be any juft Saxors, fet up kings and deposed them as

exceptions againft them, 1. 140.
In politicks, fome which ought always

to be obferv'd, i. 245, 271.
Obferv'd in England as fo point of fuc«

ceffion, 1. 340, 341,

S.

SAbtaniy their kings, tho* obeyM In all
things within their palace, yet might
be fton'd without it, i. 158.
Sacredy not to be accounted fo by crimes,

i. 3^3. 324-
The ftiie given to the tribunes as well
as monarchs, ii. 294.
Salick law in France, i. 81, 339, 340,
424. Ii. 149, 155,
Has been in force above 1200 years, 1,

424.
Not without difficulties fufficient to fub-
vert the polity of that kingdom, In-
ftances thereof, ii. 167, 168.
Saltnafiui his ftory of bees, i. 168.
Sahis Pjpuli, Lex eft fuprema, i. 160. II.
5, 6, 58, 127, 155, 157, 220, 229.
To what this fafety extends, ii. 127.

they pleas'd, ii. 87, 247, 248.

The brave faying of king Ofta, ii. 145,
478, 292.

Laws to which all our kings have fworn
continue ftill in force among us, ii.
146.

Severe aflertors of their liberties and
laws, ii. 210, 242, 265.

We chiefly derive our original and man-
ners from them, ii. 242, 291,

Their aflemblies the fame in power with
our parliaments, ii. 245, 246.

In their own country fcorn'd all employ-
ments but that of the fword, ii. 260.

By what names they and their general
aflemblies were call'd, ii. 260.

Came hither under Hengift and Horfa,
ii. 263.

How they came to reform their man-
ners, and frame laws, ii. 292.

Their great wifdom in making laws, ii.

378, 379- .
Scloolmenj an unjuft imputation on them,
i. 5, 7, 20, 102.
To what a nicety they have minc'd oathsj
ii. 137.

The end for which governments are in- Scientes temporum, who, i. 391.

ftituted, H. 131.
Samuel was no king, for the Ifraeiites ask'd
one of him, ii. 8.

What he wrote in a book was not a law
to the people but to the king, Ii. 8.

Told them their folly and mifery in ask-
ing a king, ii. 15, 27.

Not hf, but God was reje£led by them,
I. 180. ii. 54.

How he behaved himfelf as head of the
Ifraeiites, ii, 330.

Scipio Africanui, the firft that difdaln'd,

the power of the law, i. 253,
Scotland, the mifchiefs brought upon it by

their contefts, i. 354.
When and how conquer'd, i. 399.
Their little number of foot beat the

king's army at Newborn, i. 401, 402.
James the third, Lewis XI's apt fcholar

in fubverting the laws, &c. i. 422.
Many of their king? punifh'd with death,

imprifonment and exile, ii. 341, 347,

5'fl;;W/';» inftiuted by Mofes, I. 175, 233. Scripture^ the places therein relating to go-

How permanent, i. 177.

Always to be advifers of the Jewifli kings,

i. 417. ii. 84.
Where faid that kings can do nothing

without them, ii. 25, 26.
For what end conftituted judges, ii. 26,
Sauly his firft fin by which he fell, i. 171,

177.
Oppofing God's command he pretended

to fulfil it, i. 192.
The effects of his various fits of fury, i,

191, 192. ii. 57.
His vices never difcover'd, till be was

on the throne, i. 370.
Gave the Ifraeiites no law, ii. 8.
Chofen king in the moft democratical

way, by lot, ii. 12, 18.
IIcxv he overthrew his own right, ii. 20,

vernment, how beft interpreted, i. 26.
What it fays concerning kings, i. 26,

172, ii, 47.
The accounts there given concerning their

leaders, i. 172, 173.
What it occafionally relates of the Ba-
bylonian and other monarchies, i. 334.
Declares the neceflity of fetting bounds

to princes, i. 417.
Is clear concerning the antiquity of laws,

ii. 7. _
Senate f their power, I, 24, 210.
Julius Caefar flain in it, i. 193.
Set up by the people, i. 220.
How expos'd and deftroy'd, i. 223.
Condemn'd Nero to be put to death, i«

258.
Kill'd Romulus, i, 287,

Ssttatej

An Alphabctica] TABLE.

Senate, flrangcrs admittedinto that of Rome, Slaves, what tributes they are forc'd to pay "

1. 288.
Abrogated the power of the Decemviri,

i. 316.
The beft judges, 5. 321, 322.
And people of Rome not to be brib'd,

i. 368, 371.
Of Rome like to be butcher'd, and for

what, i. 332.
Chofen for their virtues, i. 373.
Of what conftltuent parts it may be

compos'd, i. 433.
The greateft part of them fell at the

battle of Pharfalia, ii. 205.
Of Sparta and Venice their great power,

ii. 239.
Senators and fervants employ'd m oor

pubhck affairs, ii. 369,
Sedimn, popular, i. 15.
What, i. 313.
"What it implies, i. 142, 325

II. 71.
What denotes a flave, ii. 126, 184,

185.
What the true badges of flaves, ii. 175,

176.
Sad, when the worft of them came to

govern kings, ii. 38S.
Slavery, what to be underftood by it, i«

i7> 38, 39> 49-
What it is accompany'd with, i. 186,

187, 248.
The produce of it, i. 227, 228, 279,
The Afiaticks underwent the greateH,

ii. 16.
A great part of the curfc againft Cham

and all his poftcrity, ii. 26.
None of God's inftitution, ii. 28.
What brings it upon any nation, together

with its ruin, ii. 349.
, With a witnefs, ii. 367.

Said to be occafion'd by learning, i. 184, i'/o/i) in princes, the miferable effefts thcre-

197, 249. of, i. 346.

None hurtful to Rome till men got above Smyrna, the defign of taking that fleet, u

the law, i. 214, 215. ^
From whence it arifes, i. 309, 311,

335'
Proceeding from malice, is feidom or

never feen in popular governments, i,

3"*

But always deteftable, 1. 326,

One of the greateft that ever was at
Rome appeas'd, and how, i, 332.

When juftify'd by God and man, i. 3 14,
317, 319, 326.

Societies, muft in fome meafure dimlnifii
liberty, i. 37, 38, 44, 103, 104.

Subfift only by order, i. iiz, 133, 134,
ii. 344.

Civil, compos*d of equals, i. 118.

How inftituted, i. 130, 141, 142/

When once eoter'd into, oblige all to the
laws thereof, i. 141.

Are maintain'd by mutual contracts, i*

----- ... 4^7-

Moft natural to abfolute monarchies, ii, Socrates put to death by falfe witnelTcs, i.

326, 327. 251.

From Solomon's time the Jews perpe- Soil, kings not originally lords of it, ii»

tually vex'd with them, i. 327.
To what fome magiftrates give this name,
ii. 173.
Seneff, the battle of it, i. 401,
Servants of God, who, i. 96.

Rais'd to high de^ees of honour, i. lio,

III.
None can be members of a common-
wealth, i. I20, 140.
Ship-money, Vid. Judges.
Sbircs, far more antient than Alfred's time,
and what meant by them, ii. 256,

Singulis major ^ univerCs minor, i. 319, ii,

74. 75-
Slave: by nalure, who, i. 7, 17, 56, ill,

160. ii. 37.

Oftentimes advanced, i. ill, 204, 206,

148, 261. ii. 123

262, 263, 290.
Soldiers in fcripture, there were as many to
fight for their country, as there were
able men to fight, i. 291.
Every man is one againft a pubilck enemy.

The Grecian m the time of their vir-
tue bad no equals, i. 394.

The Chriftlan their obligation, ii. iSx,
Soldiers mercenary, overthrow &11 the laws
of a country, i. 265, 428.

Often betray their matters in diftrefs, i.
280, 283.

Several cities in Italy made their wars by
them, i. 288.

Always want fidelity or courage, i. 29s*

Sent to the wars by force, i. 400,
►, And other viJlans fubdu'd the Syracufaps,
Spartans and Romans,

!-445.
No members of the civil fociety, i. 216. Soldiery, accounted a trade, i. 214.

Abfolutely refign themfelves to the will Solomon, his idolatry and oppreflion, 1, 192,
of others, and why, i. 274, 275. The bad effeft of his magnificence, U

What ftates become (o to their prote^or, 330.

i. 298. His peaceable reign, i. 330.

Stiomoag

An Alphabetical- TABLE.

Sitomtny ovetthrew the law given by Mofes, Sbartans, the poverty and fimpllcity of therf
ii. 2t. king?, ii. 49.

Their legiHature was in the people, fi.
85.
Stability^ the effe£t of good order in that
which is good, i. 65, 189, 190.
V/herein it confifts in man, i. 189,
There can be none in abfolute kingdoms^

j« i95> 33^ 35i> 353'
Produces ftiength, i. 197,

Not wanting in Venice, i. locy.

Nor among the Romans, i. 203.

Star-chambery its jurifdi<^ion aboliHi'd, ii,

237-
StcTteS'getie'-al, Vid. Ho/land,

Statutes, from whom they receive their
authority and force, ii. 3^9,
Vid. ^cii of farliament.
Stipulations are not perfonal but national,

ii. 352.
Suarez, his faying about Adam, i. 119,
Spain, ii. 157. SubjeBion Ixnsil^ never antiently dreamt of,

3. 116,
To the power, however acquired, i. 314,
And proteft'on axe relatives, ii. 290.

None will fay he wa^ a t}-rant, yet he
was complain'd of by the people, ii.

54'
His wifdcm furpafs'd that of all the

people, ii. 322.

Sovereignty impatiently bear competitors,

Majelty, the extravagance of it in Au-
guftus Caefar's time, ii. io6.
Sovereignty y remained in the Roman people,
i. 211.

To whom the difpofal of it mud perpe-
tually belong, ii. 277, 279.
Spainy has nothing fave Milan, but what
is come to her by marriage, i. 307.

The civil wars there, i. 353, 3*4-

The antient kingdoms of Spain heredi-
tary, i. 15?. ii. 149.

When one kingdom comprehended all

How the crown was d?.rpos*d of accord-
ing to the humour of the people, ii.

157, 158, i<;9. • n, ,- , . . ,--

The only title Kabel had to the crown, SubfniJJlony all manner of it is a reftraint of
was deriv'd from illegitimation, ii.

167. _
How the king may deferve the name of
being head of his people, ii. 333.
Spaniards, their valour againft the Car-
thaginians and Remans, and their
overthrow by two lev/d tyranif, i. 30&.
The condition to which they have re-
duc'd Naples, Sicily, the Weil-Indies,
&c. i. 376, 377.
Spartan kings, what they were fub]e£l to
from their people, i. 154, 156, 157.
Together with their power, i. 420.
Government in v/hat it confifted, i. 233.
Prefer'd by Xenophon to Athens, i,

249, 250.
Fram'd a moftfevere difcipllne, i. 288.
Never any fedition againft their kings,

i. 420.
Call'd an ariftccracy by all the Greek

authors, i. 432, 433.
Appointed limits to the power of their

kings, i. 436. ii. 309, 335.
Had no law agaiWt adultery, and why,
ii. 4.
Spartans y whom they brought from Thebes
and Epirus to be their kings, i. 61.
Jealous of Lycurgus, and why, i. 309.
Had kin^ before the times ot Hercules

and Achilles, i. 156.
Sacrific'd their lives in defence of their

country, i. 285.
Never heard an enemy's trumpet for 880

years, i. 289.
Whether defcended from the Hebrews,
and what power the coUedive body
of the people had over thetp, i. ^ZQ,

liberty, 1. 271.

The nature and meafure of it how to be
dctermin'd, ii. J44.
Succejfiony no difference in religion faid to
be able to divert the right of it, i. 42,

The eldeft brother prefer'd before the
fon, i. irS.

To the next in blood, 1, 189.

Of blood, the difeafe incident to it, Is
300,
Laws concerning it, i. 337. ii. loS.

Bv the law of God and nature, i. 338.

The various ways of it in feveral king-
doms, i. 339, 34a _

The flaughters about it in France, i.

344> 34 5-
Sometimes comes to rhoftfters in cruelty,

to children and fools, ii, 104, 105.
The law gives the rule of it, ii, iizy

149, 150, 156.
Five different ways of difpofing of it, ii*

149, 150, 279, 280.
In Sp in according to the pleafure of the

nobility snd people, ii. 157, 158.
Where in France 'tis like to be quefti-

on'd, if not overthrown by the houfe

of Auftris, ii. 163.

CoBtefts will arife

concerning

rt, how

tXiCiXy foever it be difpos'd of by law,-

ii. 270.
No footfteps of any regular one, either

by isheritance or ele£lion, ii. 210.
Of the crown fettled by parliament, ii,

238.
Several que^ions arifing from that which

is hereditary, ii, ^70.

)ttperiority3i

Sp

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Superlcrify, given to Mofes, who was the
younger brother, i. 46.
Not in nature, but in virtue, i. 105,

IXZ u:

Sufplicaticns and remonnrances, where to

be us'd, ii. 340.
Supreme, the extent of the word, i. 317,

313, 321, 451, 452> 453- "• 129,

190, 236.
power has been enjoy'd in the fullsfl ejf-

tent by fuch as never had the name of

king, ii. 98.
Where there was a refervation of this

power in the people, ii. 114.
Siv'.'ieriy the blood- royal not to marry out

of the country, or wiihcat confent cf

the rtates, i. 340.
How the inheritance to the crown is

fettled there, ii. 150, 277.
Eleaicn the beft title to it, il. 153,

255-
Their laws but few, JI. zzz.

Who the nobility of that country, u.

What Charles Guftavus told an ambafik-

thcre, ii. 277.
Sivitzcrs, the 1 3 Cantons, how long they

have enjoy'd more peace than any

other ftate of Europe, i. 295, 296.
None more free from popular feditions,

i. 296.
The laws of their country read over in a

few hours, ii. 222.
How they ufe their delegates, ii, 369,

370- --. :•■:
SiuorJ, where left as an inheritance to fa-
milies, i. 193.
The right of appeals overthrown by it,

i. 212.
He that draws it againft his prince, ought

to throw awjy the fcabbard, i. 311.
Of juHite, and of war, i. 313. ii. 66,

67.
When the only law that governs, i. 333,

378.
A way of killing worfe than that of the

fwcrd, i. 375.
To what end fwotds were given to men.

The ufe of the civil as well as rr.Ilitary,

equally condemn'd by the firft Chri-

ftians, ii. 66, 67.
Of power, in all forts of governments,

ii. 78, 79.
So to be us'd that nations noay live

peaceably, ii. 84.
What me<»nt by this word, il. 84, 85.
Of juftice comprehendo the le^iHative

and executive power, ii, S5.
What the military fignifies, ii. 85, 86.
Qaeftions about title to crowns often

JeteiUiin'd this wayj ii. 167,

Stoord, where edi£ts are hefitated at by the

parliament at Paris, this povi-er ha»

iaeen made ufe of to compel, ii. 384,

.Ty/Za, the crimes ox hi» life, and mii'eiies

cf his death, i. 360, 361.

If not a typant, there never was any in

the world, i. 378.
Refigns hi^ power, tho' too la^p for
Rome's recovery, i. 37S.

T.

TAcUuiy his fad account of Rome, 5.
ICO, 204, 207, 277, 255, 479.
Speaks of the burden of abfolute power,

J. 123.
Mentions a fort of kings us*d by the
Romans to keep nations in fervitude
to them, i. 210.
W'hen he fays the Roman laws grew in-
nunr.ej-able, i. 222.
Tamerlane faiJ he was not a man, but the
fcoi;rge of God, and the plague of
mankind, ii. 132.
Tar^uin, the expulfion of him from Rome,
i. 20, ii. 209.
The fixft that reign'd fine jufiii populi,

i. 137-,
Came in it by treachery and murder, i,

201, 220, 246, 321.
How the people deliver'd themfelves

from him, i. 236, 273, 274, 358,

359-
What follow'd from his being cxpel'd,

i. 310. ii. 36.

His counfel concerning the poppies, i,

34»-
Taxes, upon what accounts to be given,
but not to opprefs the people, ii. 50,
TenantSy how they now look upon their

lords, ii. 312, 313.
Tenure, none in England owes any hut by
virtue of a contradV, made either by
himfelf or his predeceflbrs, ii. 41.
Thofe of turpitude now abolifli'd, ii,

42.
Of the commons as antient as many cf
the nobilities, iit 251.
Tertulliatiy fevcral fa'jings cut of his apo»
logeticks. ii. 66, 67.
The defign of his apology and treatife to
Scapula, ii. 67, 68.
Calls the whole people of CartVage, an-
tiquitate noblles, nobilitate felices, ii«
261.
Thaneftry, the law of it, i. 158,
Tkemijioclesy his charadler, i. 250.

His envy and {"-.Jte to Ariftides, i. 250.
All the citizens of Athens able to bear
arms went along with him againd
Xerxes, i. 2S5.
A great and true faying of his, i. -562.

TihsriuSf

An Alphabetical TABLE.

ihcr'iuif his reign an uninteirupted feries
of murders, fu born j runs, perjuries,
&c. \ 331, 332, 343.
Aflum'd the name cf C^lar without any

title, li. 62.
His deteftafile luil <Jefciib'd by Tacitus,

ii. 98, 99.
To what counfellors he only inclin'd,
ii. 130.
T/we, changes nothing, \. 308, 394.
Car inske nothing lawful and juft that
is not fo of itfeli, ii. 241.
7ithif of the firft kings came not from
paternity, i.- 54, 442, 443.
Of princes, deriv'd from murders, ^c,
i. 65, 69.
Some would not have them examin'd

into, i. 66, 314-
Hobbes of another opinion, i. 315.
Inftances of ours in particular, ii. 272^

273'
Of civility have no power to create a

right of dominion, i. 128,
Difputes about them by what power to be

determin'd, i. 160, 161. ii. 169.
Thought good if the princes could cor-
rupt two or three legions, i. 333.
No emperor had a better than what he

got by money or violence, i. 333.
To dominion by whom confer'd, i. 442,
The fordid ways of attaining them in

our days, ii. 251.
On whom thofe of offices were antlently

confer'd, ii. 251.
In what jufl ones do confift, ii. 269.
Several ways to overthrow mod of them,

ii. 271, 272.
Kings, where inftanc'd in to have no

other than what was confer'd on them

by the people, ii. 277.
Whatever is given to the chief magi-

ilrate, he can have no other power

than what is given him by the people

and the laws, ii. 285.
The moft fweiling and auguft, to whom

given, ii. 294, 312.
^mde, fubfervient to the end of war, i.

288, 290.
Spartans banifh'd all the curious arts that

are ufeful to it, i. 288, 289.
Wrajati, his expedition into the Eaft, i,

221.

Bitterly derided for his clemency by Ter-

tuUian, and why, ii. 92.
Whom he bid to ufe the fword for or

againft him, as he reign'd well or ill,

ii. 281, 375.
^'reajittj the puincipal part of Trefilian's,

was his opinion that kings might dif-

folve parliaments at their cleafure, ii,

317.

Treajcn, perfons executed as traitors for
things done by the king's command,

"• 357-
'Tis enaded, thst to kill the king is fo,
and to be puHifh'd with death, ii. 382.
Treati'S, the king's name always us'd in
them, tho' they are children, or other-
wile incapable, but yet they oblige
them, their fuccefTors and people, ii*

354-
If parliaments Ihould make ignominious

ones, when the feflion is ended, they

muft bear the burden as much as

others, ii. 379.
^Tribes, the ten, why they did not return to

the houfe of David, ii. 24.
Tribunes of the people, their creation, i.

240, 358.
Military, with a confular power, i. 240,

245-
How Caefar corrupted them, i. 241, 264.
The moft dangerous fedltion compos'd by

them, i. 310.
Threaten the didator with a great fine,

i. 452.
Efteem'd facred and inviolable, il. 294.
Tribute, the ancient Jews fcrupled paying

it to the emperors, ii. 62.
What underftood by that name, ii. 62,

64.
We owe none but what we freely give,

ii. 71.
Triumvirate, firft fet up byPompey, i, 378.
TruJ}, what the greateft that can be repos'd

in men, ii. 238.
Where that repos'd in kings has been

mifemploy'd, ii. 258.
How kings are faid to difpenfe with it

out of the publick flock, ii, 318.

Vid. Ki,igs.
Truth y no confequence can deftroy it, I. 9.
Is comprehended by examining prineiples,

i. 12. ii. 207.
Is the rule of juftice, i. 57.
Our thoughts ought ever to be guided

by it, i. 58, 116.
The knowledge of it makes men wife,

i. 116.
Can never be repugnant to Juftica, i. 120.
What are real truths grounded on the

laws of God and nature, i, 153.
Kings feldom hear it, till they are ruin'd

by lies, i. 406.
Can never be made too evident in mat-
ters of importance, ii. 156.
Of abfolute neceflity to keep the tongue

from falfhood, ii. 170.
The bond of union, ii. 174.
They that enquire for it, muft not deny

or conceal any thing, ii. 266.
Can feidcm or ever conduce to mifchief,

ii. 32J.

TrjaU

An Alphabetical TABLE.

\

9ryalf Vl^. Law,

Once acquitted, not queftion'd a fecond

time for the fame fad, i. 4^6.
In France the king can't be prefent at

any, for no man can be judg'd if he

be, ii. 351.
Here is faid to be coram rege, but it

muft only be according to the Jaw of

the land, ii. 354.
*Xumulti, where they do no hurt, i. iS7i
From whence they arife, i. 309.
What, i. 314.

Among the Hebrews, i. 329, 330.
Of Rome, their difference from fome

of our battles, i. 359.
What reigns are moft accompanyM with

them, i. 347» 373- ,, ^

^urh^ all the royal brethren expos d to be
deftroy'd by the Sultan, i. 12.7. .
Their greateft flrength confifts in chil-
dren that do not know their own fa-
thers, i. 279.
How they came by their ruin, i. 377.
When the Germans fled to them for
protefticn, ii. 324.
Tujcarty^ when one of the moft flourifhing
provinces in the world, now to how
low an ebb reduc'd, ii. 304.
*Tyrannyy how it may be weaken'd, i, 10,
186, 187.
Abhorr'd by the laws of God and man,

i. 69, 360, 361, 417.
Brought ruin to thofe fubjefted thereto,

i. 104.
To impofe laws arbitrarily, 5. 151, 152.
Can create no right, i. 156.
Is enipire gain'd by violence, i. 157.
The occafion of revolts, i. ai8.
All had their beginning from corruption,

i. 26*, 327.
Introduced by the worft of men, i. 273.

ii. 48.
The overthrow of Spain, i. 306.
The people miferable under all, i, 319,

379, 380.
Never founded on contra«f!?, ii. 14.
When it began to become odious, U. 55,

56.

Where it is very cruel, a nation can't
fubfift, unlefs it be corrected or fup-
prefs'd, ii. 116.
To fet it up, is to abollfli kings, ii. 134,
Is the death of a ftate, ii, 340,
Not the tyrant, but tyranny muft be

defiroy'd, ii. 349.
Tyranny with a mil'chief, ii. 367.
Tyrants, how they have been accounted,

i. 15* 54> 100. i*^!* 248.
The firrt king a cruel one, and cali'd

the mighty hunter, i. 31, 190.
Confult only their own gr-atncfs, i. 69,

X22, 24t, 447.

TyrantSf ctedience faid to be clue to thesci

from the fifth commandment, i. loo.
The difference between lawful kings and

them, 1. 122, 410.
Few go to their graves in peace,- i. 1233

360, 361, 430. ii. 36, 105.
Many would refift but cannot, i. 147,
Deftroy*d by one another, i. 193, 194 j,

3^7> 348> .349- "-"6. 132, 133.
When they reign, the virtuous are u.i»

regarded, j. 201, 202.
Fear and abhor all men of reputation or

virtue, i. 223, 321, 347, 380.
All evils come in with them, i. 226.
Deftroy'd by their own people, i. 235,

447.
The thirty of Athens, i. 251, 315,

Said exuiflc hominem, i. 273, 319.
Confider nations as graders do their herds^

A virtuous man could fcarce die in his

bed under them, i. 256.
Among the moft virtuous nations every

man might lawfully kill them, i. 315,

410, 447.."' IJ3-
Tyfanni fine titulo, i. 315. ii. 299,

Extrajudicial proceedings muft be ibme-*

times againft them, i. 324.

What may be expefled from them, I9

3^5-
None fuch upon Filmer's principles, I,

410. ii. 125, 126, 129, 131, 133-
To what exceffes of cruelty their fear

drives them, i. 412.
Whom Ariftotle accounts fuch, i. 417*
Who faid to have laid the foundations of

tyranny, i. 420.
Do many mifchiefs, and fuffer more, i,

43o>.437-.
Their life miferable, death infamouis,

and memory deteftable, i. 439.
"Whether the whole courfe of their aftlons

do well f^it with the facred name of

father, ii. 2,-3, 4, 5, 132.
Some in removing them have cut ty*

ranny by the roots, ii. 36.
No name tor one in any of the oriental

tongues, 11. 53,
He's no more than an evil or corruptei

monarch, ii. 54, 117.
No obediencedue to any of them, ii. jco»
When kings are faid to degenerate into

fuch, ii. 119, 120.
Set themfelvco up againft all laws, ii«

124.
Call'd fo, becaufe they have no right*^

ii. 133.
Are the worft of all God's creature?, ii*

205.
F.peak always in the finguht Numbetj^

ii, 267.

Ff

y<

An Alphabetical TABLE.

V.

!"r JA'cur, the Roman was for the good
\ of their country, i. 202, 203.
By the excell'nce of it the ^reateft pow-
- ers in the world were fubdued by the
Romans, i. 214.
VenaUty, natural to courts, i. 260, 261,
262, 361, 362.
Look'; always after the beft bargain, i.
298.
VerMians, of what they are compofed, i.

234.

tzo.

Relying on trade and mercenary foldiers
too much, are forced to depend on
foreien potentates, ii. 288, 29 T,
Their too great inclinations to peace ac-
counted a mortal error in their confti-
tution, ii. 292.
Veniccy the dukes, though ftiled fupreme,
vet are fo under the power of the law,
that divers have been put to death for
tranfgreflingit,i.3i8.ii.3C9,3io,336.
Their noblemens love for the common-
wealth, i. 358.
Concerning the council often, ii. 281.
rerdiB of juries, m this confifts the ftrength

of every judgment, ii. 224.
Vertucy what, i. 383.

What requinte in kings, i. 4.8, 58, 67,

70, 105, III.
Cave biith to the Grecian govsrnments,

!.. 61.
Gives a natural preference of one man

above another, i. 102, 123.
And aUb to children, i. 125.
Carries the true marks of fovereignty, i.
io3, 114, 183.

VirtuCy by what means it becomes popular,

i- 364> 365-
Thofe hated and feared who moft exceB

in it, i. 369.

Hated for its own fake, i. 383.

Expires with lofs of liberty, i. 393,

Given where God pleafes without diftinc-

tion, i. 407.
Where it has the advantage, there can

be no arbitrary power, i. 438.
Once blemifhed, makes former fervicca

forgot, ii. 100.
Who encourage it moft, ii. 174,
Makes the diftindtion between men,fim-

ply or relatively confidered, i. 202,
Men are truly ennobled by it only, ii.

251.
Thofe that are enemies to her, and fear

not God, are afraid of men, ii. 325.
The virtues of a man die with him, ii*

361-
Vice, mankind inclined to it, i. 203, 261.
The effefts of it to a nation, i. 204,

205, 312, 328, 350.
May be profitable to private men, but can
never be fo to the government, i. 262,
Its deformity when moft confpicuous, i.

264*
What England has loft by her vices, i«

300.
Thofe of princes refult to the damage of

the people, i. 357, 383, 387. _
The vermin that attend vicious princes^,

i. 392.
By what means, and to what end, the

vices of princes have been fomented,

ii. 48.

Kever continues in any race of men, i. Vicious perftns, they will fubmit to any

127, 334, 370, 372. ii. 22S, 361.

Unentialiy neccfVary for preferving ot li-
berty, i. 1S6, 206, 395.

When perfected, few will follow it, i.
204.

No way to real honour without it, i,

^11, 364, 395

power that proroifes them impunity,

i. 274.
Care not what they do, if they can find
their account in it, ,i, 175, 176.
Villains, little better than flavefi, appointed

to cultivate the lands, and to other

fervile offices, ii. 257, 258.

Not to be ccnhcered when it is departed Vtllainy^ where it has been promoted to fu-
preme dignity, i. 84, 365.
What it infpires to attain its end, i. 59,

92, 3»4> 3^5-
Tarquin hated only for his villainies, i*

321, 322.

None, th^t men of defperate fortunes

will not undertake, i. 328.
Sepported by committing yet more, i.

trom, 1. 2;i.

When attended with certain dertruftion,
i. 254, 255, 384, 394. li. 81.

TheRtnian, of being as a law to them-
lelves, ii. 259.

W^liofe will be remembered in all ages,
J. 273, 30J, 325, 3z6, 393.

Miikes as mary fcldiersas there are free-
men, i. 283, 393.

Overcomes all difficulties, i. 285, 301.

^nd ftrength make and pTeferve con-
qiieu'^, i. 307.

He thit hath virtue and power to fave a

365, 366.
What Rome fuffered by it, i. 377.
Vitcllius thrown into the common fewer, i.
331, 332._ ii. 96.
His contemptible charafter, i. 337-

people, cfln never want a right of do- XJ'pian his faying, ihit princeps Ugibus non

tenetur, concludes nothing againft us,
ii. 230,

'-,5.

rcg It, 3.3:
C-du never long uphold what is vltious in
the principle, i. 32S, 3-g.

Union

»

An Alphabetical TABLE.

Vnion I fimiiltu^e of interefts, manners and
defigns, is a link of it, i. 270.

United Pro-vtKces, fo fteddy in pradice and
principle, as hardly to be paralleled
in the world, i. 294.
Hew the deputies are ufed there, ii.369,

370*
Have had dukes, earls or marquefTes, ii,

371'
Vortigern, the iaft and worft of the British

kings, ii. 249.
His favcur to the Saxons, and carriage to

the Britons, ii. 264.
Vox populi efi 'VOX Dei , i. 95*

Nothing mote natural than to follow the

voice of all mankind, i. 153. ii. 342.
General confent is the voice of nature,

i.37»39.27i. . .

The confequence of one voice in each

ftate, i. 430, 431.
Ufurpeuon made the firft king, i. 31, 33,

Grounding pretenfions of right from
thence, i. 40, 53, 55, 62, 65, 84,
92, 135, 183.

Juftified, i. 84.

The greateft injury can be done to man,

i. i35» 273» 3^5-
"What power is fo, i. 151, 152.

By whom bid to fubmit to it, i. 3 14.
Lawful tor an injured people to relume

their own, i. 323.
And violence, faid to confer an incon-

teftable right, i. 410. ii. 2.
All is deteftable and abominable, ii. 78.
None can deduce any title from it, ii.
270, 271. _
Ufurpers, Athallah anufurprefs, i. 82.
Have their root in violence and fraud, i,

144, 238.
Seem to be born for plagues to mankind,

i. 210.
"What lawful againft one is lawful i:ga5nft
all, that is, to get rid of them, i.315.
May be fupprefled as enemies and rob-
bers, 11. 17.
Some that never were conqueror?, ii. 77.
Declare their contempt of all human and

divine laws, 11.

183.

■We ought to examine the titles {9 as to
judge of them, ii. 270.
UJury, the cruelty of it, i. 2C9.

The mitigation of it compofed intefiine

quarrels, i. 358.

w

w.

ff^ar, the Hebrew government fitted theffl

for war, i. 253, 291,
Of Charles duke of Burgundy with the

Swifs cantons, i. 293.
Better performed in popular governments

than in monarchies, i. 303.
It h decertatio per 'vitTiy i. 314.
"When the people may engage in it juftly,

i- 3H. 315-
What to be accounted making of war,

ii. 18, 19.
Differs much from what it was formerly,

ii. 58.
There is fuch a thing among men as a

juft war, and why, ii. 78.
Kings of Judah could not make any

without the confent of the Sanhediin,

ii. 85.
Whether a fubje£l may examine if it be

juft or unjuft, ii. 181.
Where the caufe of it is originally juft,

and it proves fucceGful, what right

the generals have over their enemies,

ii. 283.
The events of it various, 11.298.
TFariy civil, onlymide by members of the

civil fociety, i, 215, 216.
None till the times of Marius, Sylla and

Catiline, i. 216.
Efteemed the bft ftiugglings of expiring

liberty, j. 216.
The root of the Romans, what, i. 231.
In France, i. 242, 243, 352, 353.
From whence they arife, i. 309, 354,

35 ^
Pretences for thcra commonly falfe, i.

312.
When they will always be frequent, i.

347-

What reigns moft accompanied wiifi
them, J. 348, 349.

In Spain, i. 353.

More in kingdoms than in common-
wealths, i. 357, 373, 377.

Not the gjeatelt evil that bi^tals nations,

J. _) / -.

1 he Romans and Grecians glory in free-
ing their countries from a civil war, i.

39S, 399-
In Machidvci's account are a difeafe, ii.

340.
Wardi, that court, how the inftitution of

it was perverced, i. 88.
JVefminfier , what its privileges in point of

elections, ii. 318.
?^'7fW«£j} makes men cowards, i. 412.

Antonnefsf from whence it proceeds. Will, is ever drawn by fome real good, or

1. 217.

lyar and peace, the kings of Sparta never
h id the power of either, i. i 56, I 57.
Trar.fadted by the col!e(n:ed booy of the
people, i. 174 ■ -■ '« 178.

the appearance of it, i. 64.
The dividing of the world Icttto the will

of man, i. 75.
PafiTing for law, the effetl? of it, i. 194,

410, 411, 447' "• 378.

mn.

An Alphabetical TABLE.

OTttl, wtere this is the rule, the prince fcts fVorJi men, tyranny fet up by them, h

up an intereft feparate from that of
his people, i. 439.
William the firft, eledted a ckro & po^ulo,
i. 14.5. ii. 88, 89. ^
Could inherit nothing, i. 156.
On what conditions fvvorn to be receiv-
ed, ii. 144.
In his time our anceftors were in a low
condition, ii. 232.
Wifdom^ not always annexed to the cha-
ra<fler of kings, i. 86.
When men give teftimony of it, i. 87.
"Whofe we ought to admire and imitate,

i. 320.
The wifeft men moft fit for government,

i. 187.
Of man imperfed, i. 244.
A kind of ability to difpatch fome fort of

affairs, is fo called, i. 407.
Of the coiledted body of the people fiir-
^pafTes that of a fingle man, i. 386.
WitneJfeSf falfe, encouraged, and called
cujiodeskgum, i. 204, 261.
No fufficient defence againft them either

by the laws of Gcd or man, i. 2$l.
Minifters of iniquity, i. 306, 3S8,
Coui;tenancedat Rome, i. 375.
The beft tribunals in the world may be

milled by them, i. 413.
Irifh, I. 204.
Wiltena-G emote, its power as declared by
Camden, ii. 252.
The power of the nation refided in them,
ii. 256, 316, 317.
JVomen, on what account they are excluded
in France and Turkey, i. 80, 159,
339. ii. 150, 152, 280.
And were by other nations, i. 81, Si,

Some do aJrait thtm, i. 159, 339.
What have governed kings, but fcldoii
fenatcs or popular affemblles, i. 346,
361, 362.
"What mifchicfs kings have been guilty
of tu gratify them, ii. 363.
Work, that of all magiftrates and gover-
nors, i. 96, ic6.
Worji men advanced, and raoft ambitious to
be fo, i. 89, 100, 101, III, 112,
123.
And by whom preferred, i, 265, 26S,

269, 273.
Stiled fjtheii of iheir people, i. 95, 97.
Have their tools to execute their decei-
tabledeHgn:, i. 225.

273 — 276.

Engaged in all tumults, i. 329, 330.

Moft frequently have obtained the em-
pire by the worft means, i. 337,

Their principles ought to be dellroyed,
i. 364.

Eafily fwallow bribes, i. 366, 367, 371.

Have moft power in fome courts, i.369,
370. _

How princes become fo, asalfo the moft
miferable, i. 439.

Delight in the worft things, ii. 30.

Whom they had no need to fear^ ii, 8r,

What bafe courfes they take to gain the
favour of weak and vicious princes,
ii. 105.

What encourages them to murder the
beft of princes, ii. 236.
Worthy men in all times fufpef^ed for their
virtue, i. 204, 205.

Ought to be had in higheft veneration,
ii. 213.
Wrong, is a breach of the laws, which de-
termine what is right, i. 411.

If there be none done, there can be no
revenge, i. 411.

Where kings can do none, ii, 355,

X.

XEr.cphon, why he called Agefilaus 3
good and faithful king, i. 155,
Conduced the Grecians retreat indefpite
of above 400000 men, who endea-
voured to oppofe them, i, iqS,
His opinion concerning tyranny, i, 247.
For ariftocracy, i. 248, 249, 276.
XfrxeSy his folly in infiiding ilripes on the
fea, i. 86
His invafion of Greece, i. 2S5,

Y.

YNca CarcilaJJo of Peru, the fabulous
flory of him, i. 335.
TQungtr brothers pieferred to the elder, r.
45, 46, 162.

Eal, excefs of v.ulence is but an ill
tK'.ljaiji!; of it, i. 293.
When it can never be capabie of excefs,
ii. iS.
Zunrl, his title to the fupreme honour how

acquired, i. 5S,
Xoroafter, fuppoled to be Ham, i, c,^.

F I N I

S.

~^,>

%i'lf